In the year the non-conformist Necropolis opened in 1825, the quarry at St James Mount was exhausted after it had provided material for the construction of the Old Dock (opened in 1715), the Town Hall, and several other public buildings. So in August 1825, a meeting was held at Liverpool Town Hall to discuss the necessity of a new public cemetery in Liverpool as it had become apparent that an alternative cemetery was desired with an affiliation with the Church of England. In September 1825, the site of a former stone quarry was chosen for the new cemetery, bounded by Duke Street to the north, Upper Parliament Street to the south, Hope Street to the east, and St James’ Mount (previously Quarry Hill and Mount Zion) to the west. It was intended that 1,500 shares of £10 each were to be sold to raise funds for the construction of the new cemetery. In 1826 John Foster Junior was appointed as architect, to design a cemetery in the space along the same lines as Père Lachaise in Paris, along with John Shepherd of the Botanic Gardens as landscaper, both of whom had worked together on Liverpool Necropolis. Construction of the cemetery began in August 1827, the site being enclosed by stone walls and iron railings, and four entrances with gates led into the cemetery; two from Duke Street, one from Hope Street, and one with a monumental archway at the south end of St James’ Walk. The eastern wall, almost perpendicular, was 52 feet (15.8m) high and 1,100 feet (335m) long and included broad ramps lined with a total of 105 catacombs cut into the rock face. The ramps allowed for the procession of funeral carriages down into the cemetery itself, and were protected by walls approximately two and a half feet in height (76cm). The lower ground of the cemetery itself was laid out with winding paths lined with trees and shrubbery. A porter’s lodge was constructed on the higher land at the south-western end of the site alongside the arched entrance. The mortuary chapel was designed in the Greek Revival style, with a portico with six fluted columns at each end. It was situated prominently on the higher ground to the north-west where the quarry’s windmill had been located, accessed from the cemetery grounds by a small subterranean tunnel through the rock. The minister’s house was positioned nearby where, looming above, was the Oratory, the cemetery’s chapel where funeral services were held before burials in the adjacent cemetery, a Greek-style temple which is still standing today plus a house for the Minister, now long gone. It was also used as a kind of cenotaph for housing monuments to the deceased, including works by several noted 19th century sculptors.
The cemetery was consecrated by Lord Bishop Dr Sumner in January 1829
and the first interment, of John L. Harem of Slater Street, took place
on the 11th of June 1829. The economic success of the cemetery became
apparent almost immediately and by 1830 the company was paying a
dividend of eight percent. It began to fill rapidly and was
well used over the following decades with a peak of 2,640 burials in
1857 (around seven interments per day). As its space began to become
exhausted, this coincided with the search for a site for a cathedral but
the cemetery’s use continued after cathedral construction began.
However, by the 1930s, it was packed with gravestones and the population
increasingly sought newer, plainer cemeteries out the suburbs, as the
move away from the Victorian taste for death began. While the rich were
laid down in catacombs and vaults, it was the practice to pile the
coffins of the poorest class in deep graves or pits, one coffin over the
other, with only six inches of soil covering each coffin until the pit
was filled, when it held upwards of thirty. Of the average 10,000 or
11,000 burials in Liverpool each year, approximately two thirds were in
pits.With a subsequent report by the Medical Officer of Health Dr W. M.
Duncan in 1849 drawing attention to the dangers of emanations from
burial grounds it was urgently recommended that pit burials be ceased.
The last burial took place in July 1936, and the cemetery closed after a
recorded 57,839 interments with the cathedral having no interest in taking
on the graveyard. The cemetery site also featured Liverpool’s only
natural running spring, which you can still find along the East wall.
This was first discovered by quarrymen in 1773 and it was believed to be
especially beneficial to take the waters for 'loss of appetite, nervous
disorders, lowness of spirit, headaches proceeding from crudities of
the stomach, Ricketts and weak eyes'.
In the 1960s many
gravestones were re-sited and the central area re-landscaped but in the
late 20th century the site fell into decline The dramatic ramps,
constructed for the horse-drawn hearses, with catacombs underneath,
were crumbling in places with vines hanging over them, making them look
like the ancient ruins they were inspired by. A local Friends group took
interest in the cemetery and the site has been more actively maintained
since. The urban park now enjoys Grade I Historic Park status and is
used by individuals seeking a quiet moment’s reflection as well as
families and community groups.
Several gravestones hold a long list of those who died in the Liverpool Orphan Boys Asylum. Aged 12, Aged 9, Aged 9, Aged 14, Aged 10, Aged 9, Aged 8, on and on. Other graves to be found include :-
William Huskisson MP, who helped make the world’s first inter-city railway happen. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/01/remembering-liverpool-structures_17.html )
Kitty Wilkinson, the public wash house pioneer. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/07/a-liverpool-exemplar-kitty-wilkinson.html )
Edward Rushton, the blind anti-slavery campaigner. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/02/remembering-liverpool-structures-royal.html?q=Edward+Rushton )
Sarah Biffin, artist. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/07/a-liverpool-exemplar-sarah-biffin.html )
Robert Cain, brewer. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/06/a-liverpool-exemplar-robert-cain.html )
Sir William Brown, merchant banker. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/11/a-liverpool-exemplar-sir-william-brown.html )
John Foster, architect. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/06/a-liverpool-exemplar-john-foster-jnr.html )
Lucy Walker, pioneer of women climbers. ( more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/09/a-liverpool-exemplar-lucy-walker.html )
Colonel Thomas Colby - head of the Ordnance Survey.
Captain John Oliver - served on the Victory with Nelson at Trafalgar.
Captain Elisha Lindsay Halsey - stabbed to death by his ship's cook,
John Kent of Liverpool, who successfully pleaded self-defence;
William Harrison - first captain of the Brunel-built iron ship the Great Eastern. The main mast of which stands outside The Kop at Anfield.
William Lynn - father of the Grand National who first marked out a racecourse on a plot of land leased from Lord Sefton in 1829.
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