Adapted from a feature that first appeared in July 2025 on Londonist: Time Machine, our much-praised history newsletter. To be the first to read new history features like this, sign up for free here.
It has to be one of London’s largest tombs. It’s certainly one of the least-noticed. This is the Kilmorey Mausoleum in Richmond. Locked away behind a three-metre-high wall in the rarely-visited suburb of St Margaret’s, it remains little known outside the local area. Yet this mighty structure has a very peculiar backstory because, to go alongside the other superlatives, this is also London’s most peripatetic mausoleum.
It’s hard to get a sense of the mausoleum’s scale from a photograph. It’s huge. It is to tombs what the Airbus A380 is to passenger planes and, fortuitously, there was one flying overhead when I took this shot. Image: Matt Brown
In the summer of 2025, a group of 20 Londonist: Time Machine readers were given special access to this furtive landmark. We not only got to see inside the walled garden, but were also able to step within the tomb. I would like to thank at the outset local historian Andrew George, who led the tour with such sparkle.
Before we look at the tomb itself, we need a bit of backstory…
