A work by milliner David Shilling will be the focus of Willesden Jewish cemetery’s 150th anniversary

It’s nearly 60 years since milliner David Shilling made his first hat. He was just 12 and his mother was going to Ascot. He made her a hat and the following year she asked him to make another one. Gertude Shilling was proud to flaunt her son’s ever more outrageous creations on her head – among them a football, a giant daisy, a sailing boat and a giraffe. “She was terrified of wearing the giraffe hat,” says David, “but it became a real favourite.”

Eventually David opened a hat shop on Marylebone High Street but when the demand for hats started to decline in the 1980s he turned his hand to sculpture, creating stunning pieces out of mirror-polished stainless steel.

Next moth Shilling’s artistic talent will be the focus of Willesden Jewish Cemetery’s 150th anniversary celebrations on Heritage Open Day, England’s largest festival of history and culture, involving thousands of local volunteers and organisations. Every year in September it brings people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. The famous designer will be donating one of his abstract sculptures to the cemetery on September 10.

The theme of this year’s Heritage Open Day is ‘Creativity Unwrapped’, and Shilling will be delivering a speech to mark the occasion, before unveiling the new sculpture. The event, which is free to attend, is the second of the celebrations taking place this year to mark the fact that Willesden Jewish Cemetery has been a prestigious burial ground for London’s Jewish community since 1873. There was a special visitation afternoon in June with volunteers on site to share their knowledge and stories about the history of the cemetery and those who are buried there.

Miriam Marson, the United Synagogue’s Head of Heritage, told the Jewish News: “We mark Heritage Open Day every year, but this year we wanted to do something really impressive. David will talk about his connection to this important heritage site as well as some of his stories on heritage, art, design as well as his charitable endeavours.

“After his sculpture is unveiled, there will be a captivating, guided walk that delves into the lives and legacies of the artists, architects, and creative industry personalities resting at the historic cemetery. We shall uncover their remarkable stories, artistic contributions, and the ingenuity that shaped their lives and careers.

“We’ll be walking past the graves of artists, architects, musicians, and other creatives at WJC including Mark Gertler, whose painting ‘Merry Go Round’ is well known, and Simeon Solomon, the only Jewish member of Rossetti’s Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of painters.”

The historic Victorian cemetery is the final resting place of nearly 30,000 members of the Jewish community, with around 20 funerals still carried out there each year. Prominent Jews buried there include members of the Rothschild family, Tesco founder Sir Jack Cohen, Harriet Samuel who founded H Samuel Jewellers, and former chief rabbis. Some 200 of the Jews buried there died serving Great Britain in World Wars I and II.

The cemetery was the first major building project of the United Synagogue since the charity’s creation by an Act of Parliament in 1870. The architect was Nathan Solomon Joseph, who also designed the New West End Synagogue and Garnethill Synagogue in Glasgow.

The United Synagogue’s House of Life project at Willesden Jewish Cemetery was created with the help of a £1.7m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The first event to mark the anniversary year took place in June, when the Chief Rabbi formally opened the Heritage Centre where Professor Andrew Eder, United Synagogue lead Trustee for the House of Life project, sponsored the new mezuzot – bronze casts of mezuzot from the homes of Jewish people in pre-war Poland linking the past and present.

The Chief Rabbi said: “In Jewish tradition, death is an integral part of life, and our treatment of the dead is a reflection of the way we live.”

Heritage Open Day is at Willesden Jewish Cemetery on Sunday 10 September 1.30pm. The talk will be held indoors. The event is free but booking is essential. willesdenjewishcemetery.org.uk