Liverpool's Dead Interesting - Knotty Ash Cemetery

 

Knotty Ash Cemetery is located in the grounds of the church of St John the Evangelist, at the junctions of Thomas Lane and Brookside Avenue. The foundations for the church were laid in 1834 on land gifted to the Church of England by Adam Dugdale the first owner of Dovecot House. ( see more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/01/historic-liverpool-dwellings-dovecot.html ). The architects were Williams and Edwards, designed in the Gothic style, and it was built by Richard and Paul Barker of Huyton in red ashlar sandstone and it was consecrated on the 18th of February 1836. It has stained glass windows, a clock tower, buttresses and an organ. The original grave-yard was the area immediately around the church and one part of this was set aside for single interments. Shortly after 1885 the portion of the old churchyard that was originally set aside for single interments was completely filled so you will not find any head-stones there, as the rules of burial in that portion did not allow gravestones, therefore the Vicar Canon Powell placed a large memorial cross in the ground, for those laid to rest between 1836 and 1890.
In 1895 Miss A.M Thompson had purchased a field behind the vicarage and presented a portion to the church as an addition to the churchyard allowing more burials to take place from 1895 onwards. There are approximately 4,300 bodies in the graveyard and about 1,300 of them are children ten and under. It was on the 16th of July 1895 that this land was Consecrated and a sundial was placed here - which is still there today. 

The Lychgate

The Lychgate is found at the northwest entrance and was dedicated by Mr R.D Radcliffe on the 30th of December1900 in memory of his parents. It has particular historic interest as it is made from oak timbers from an old house in Finch Lane, West Derby known as 'Boltons' (demolished 1897). Boltons was the oldest house in West Derby, built around 1400 and the oak is believed to be Croxteth Oak and is over 600 years old. The churchyard contains a number of notable graves, including some in the burial vaults under the nave of the church, and these include Adam Dugdale and his wife Mary and other occupants of Dovecot House. It is said to have more former mayors of Liverpool buried there than any other church in the city. You will find those near the vestry door with a date preceding the opening of the church. This was because they were originally from St Nicholas’ Church at the Pier Head and were moved when the dock road was constructed. One of the vaults in the graveyard was owned by the Gladstone family of Court Hey and among those interred there is Robertson Gladstone, who was Mayor in 1842-43. Robertson was the older brother of William Gladstone, who was Prime Minister on four occasions in the latter part of the 19th Century. Although Robertson attended Eton like his brother, he had no desire to go into politics on a national level and instead became a successful merchant and property developer in Liverpool.

Thomas Littledale was only 32 years old when he became Mayor in 1851. His father, also Thomas, had been one of the founders of the church and was Mayor in 1826-27. Thomas junior was Chairman of the Dock Committee and in his spare time was enthusiastic about water sports. It was whilst following this passion that he died unexpectedly in 1861 at the age of 42. The cause of his death was a ruptured blood vessel and it occurred while he was in London to watch the University Boat Race. He is also interred in a family vault at the church. One of the most difficult to pronounce graves is that of Ferdinand Schwerdtfeger, who died in 1875 at the age of 53. He was the headmaster of a small school in Haymans Green in West Derby and his memorial was erected by former pupils.

A crew member from the Titanic has his name on a memorial in the churchyard. Norman Harrison was a second engineer who lived with his wife Mary at 27 Baden Road in Old Swan who was washed up on the shore of Newfoundland. He was 38 years old when he died and left a widow but no children. The Hampshire Independent Newspaper published the following on 17th April 1915: 'In most loving memory of Norman Harrison, second engineer of the SS Titanic, who laid down his life in the fulfilment of his duty when that vessel foundered off the coast of Newfoundland, on the morning on Monday, April 15th, 1912. ''Fidelis usque ad mortem.'' ''Steel true and blade straight, the Great Artificer made my mate''.

Bencke Monument

 

There is a War Memorial located outside of the Lady Chapel entrance and there are nine war graves at the churchyard maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission; 5 from the First World War and 4 from the Second World War, six soldiers, one airman and two sailors; John Makin Danson, Ordinary Seaman, died on the 8th of November 1918 aged 18; Frank Griffiths, Lance Sergeant, died on the 5th of December 1942 aged 27; A.W. Hammond, Private, died on the 29th of May 1918 aged 18; Andrew Howard, Captain, died on the 28th of October 1919 aged 24; James William Johnston, Private, died on the 8th of March 1940 aged 20; Kenneth Long-Whitfield, Private, died on the 16th of October 1941 aged 21; Philip Gascoyne Mottram, Air Bomber, died on the 20th of February 1944 aged 28; Thomas O'Shea, Company Quartermaster, died on the 30th of April 1921 aged 37 and J H Smethum, Sergeant, died on the 20th of October 1917. Finally, one of the most prominent memorials that can be seen clearly from the road is a late 19th Century Celtic cross. This marks the grave of John Bencke, a hemp and flax trader who lived in West Derby. Originally from Germany, he died at the age of 79 in 1894.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/02/liverpools-dead-interesting-wavertree.html