| Summary : Beckett Street Cemetery was established in 1845 and was one of the earliest publicly funded cemeteries in England. It was originally known as Burmantofts or Leeds Burial Ground. The site covers approximately 6.5 hectares and consists of two sections: the Anglican burial ground to the south-west and the Nonconformist to the north-east. Each section had its own entrance, lodge and mortuary chapel. The two chapels, designed by local architects Chantrell and Shaw, were demolished in the 1960s. Paupers from the nearby workhouse across Beckett Street were buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves, and 1,600 victims of the cholera epidemic were buried in 1849. Over the next 150 years, approximately 180,000 people were interred at the cemetery. The site is now (2001) closed to new burials. |
More information : Public cemetery covering an area of 6.5 hectares. It was established in 1845 and was one of the earliest publicly funded cemeteries in England. The cemetery's two chapels were demolished in 1960s and by 1984 the cemetery was under threat of clearance by the city council. However, a management policy for nature conservation was put into operation. The site has been closed to new burials. (1)
Burmantofts or Beckett Street Cemetery, established in 1845, was one of the earliest publicly funded cemeteries in England.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
As the population of Leeds township trebled during the period 1801- 1851, disposal of the dead became a pressing issue with limited space in local churchyards. A large private cemetery, opened by the Leeds General Cemetery Company at St George's Field, Woodhouse in 1835, was unconsecrated and intended for use by Dissenters only. In an effort to provide a burial ground for all religions and classes, Leeds Corporation obtained the Leeds Burial Act in 1842, 'an Act of Parliament for Providing Additional Burial Ground in the Parish of Leeds in the West Riding of the county of York', allowing the Corporation to levy rates for interment of the dead, a pioneering venture in England (Burt and Grady 1994). The Corporation formed a Burial Grounds Committee and in 1842, 16 acres (c 6.5ha) of land situated on the outskirts of Leeds among fields and brick kilns was purchased from William Beckett Esq MP (Act ... Burial Grounds in Leeds, 1842). Three years later the cemetery, known as Burmantofts or Leeds Burial Ground, opened, divided into two roughly equal sections, one for Anglicans and one for Dissenters, each with its own entrance, lodge, and mortuary chapel. In 1849, 1600 victims of the cholera epidemic were buried in Beckett Street Cemetery; paupers from the nearby workhouse were buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves. 'Inscription' or 'guinea' graves were introduced in the 1850s to allow those who could afford the guinea to be buried in a shared marked grave, thus avoiding the shame of lying uncommemorated in a pauper's unmarked grave (guide leaflet). Over the next century and a half 180,000 people were interred at the cemetery in some 28,000 graves.
The two chapels were demolished in the 1960s and by 1984 the cemetery was under threat of clearance by the City Council. A management scheme involving low-key maintenance and encouragement of wildlife has now (late-C20) been adopted with support from the local Friends of Beckett Street Cemetery. The site is now (2001) closed to new burials and is in the ownership of Leeds City Council. (2) |