 For them, the proposed Egyptian Revival design symbolised the adoption of an architectural tradition from part of the African continent with an association with Great Pyramids and reflected the pioneering spirit embodied in Massachusetts' Mount Auburn Cemetery.Though use of the style was disapproved of by Augustus Pugin junior (1812–52) and proved controversial in some quarters, others were impressed with the bold design at Abney Park and began to conclude that the "Egyptian Revival" should be taken further, mostly for purely stylistic reasons.In 1839 it had been used more discreetly at the entrance to the catacombs at Highgate Cemetery, but by 1842, two years after Abney Park opened, it was possible for the architect Thomas Wilson, a member of the General Cemetery Company board, to publish the most futuristic cemetery design ever in the Egyptian style.