Paddington Old Cemetery in Willesden Lane was opened in 1855, primarily as the name suggests, to bury the dead of the Paddington area, although being some way to the north. Unlike a number of London cemeteries, this one is kept in reasonable condition by the London Borough of Brent, who still retain all the burial registers since opening. The 25 acre cemetery is still open for new burials.
At the centre of the cemetery are two grade II listed chapels constructed from Kentish ragstone and linked together by arches. There are over 500 mature trees here acting as a nature oasis in this heavily-built up area.
There is also an area of war graves, complete with screen wall to those buried elsewhere in the cemetery. There is no Cross of Sacrifice, but there is a stone dedicated to ‘the men of Paddington’. Of these, about three quarters of all the stones show a date after the end of the First World War, showing those who died from injuries sustained in the conflict.
Those known to have been buried here:
John William Reffell, age: 52, burial date: 19 June1897