Abney Park Chapel [SEP] architect
Abney Park Chapel
Abney Park Chapel, is a Grade II Listed chapel, designed by William Hosking and built by John Jay that is situated in Europe's first wholly nondenominational cemetery, Abney Park Cemetery, London.
Opened in May, 1840, it was the first nondenominational cemetery chapel in Europe (and probably the world – since the chapel at Mount Auburn was a later addition). It helped pioneer the early use of the Dissenting Gothic building style, and encouraged renewed interest in the careful blending of earlier styles.
Tite noted that Hosking "wisely refused to recognise the modern distinction between the professions of architect and civil engineer" ["The Builder", 1861] - a distinction which has bedevilled both professions ever since. A comprehensive biography is long overdue.
At least two lasting legacies to his work remain today - the Abney Park Chapel and Temple Lodges at Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington. Today both are listed by English Heritage and the chapel has been described as a "building of exceptional importance" in the "English Heritage