Bishopwearmouth Cemetery Explained

Bishopwearmouth Cemetery
Established:1856
Country:United Kingdom
Location:Sunderland
Coordinates:54.8987°N -1.4209°W
Type:Public
Owner:Sunderland City Council
Size:80acres
Findagraveid:1986781

Bishopwearmouth Cemetery is a cemetery in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It lies between Hylton Road and Chester Road (A183 road).

History

Due to the cholera epidemic of 1831 and the subsequent overcrowding of churchyards, it was decided to build new cemeteries in Sunderland after the passing of the Burial Act 1852 and 1853.[1] The 34acres chosen for Bishopwearmouth Cemetery lay on the edge of the county and parliamentary boundary of Sunderland and was glebe land, owned by the Parish of Bishopwearmouth.[1] [2] The land was sold by the parish for £275 (£17,839.73 in 2007) per acre and the cemetery cost £2000 (£129,743.47 in 2007) to build.[1] [3] It opened in July 1856, on the same day as another new cemetery, Mere Knolls Cemetery, situated in Fulwell.[1] All religious denominations were allotted separate areas and it soon became the town's main burial site.[1] In 1891, the cemetery was extended further west and south, then further extended west in 1926. The whole site now covers 80acres.[1]

Jewish burials

Sunderland once had a thriving Jewish population.[4] In 1856, the only Jewish cemetery, at Ayres Quay in Bishopwearmouth, closed.[5] A site at the new Bishopwearmouth Cemetery for Jewish burials was then dedicated in the north east corner of the cemetery (the first cemetery in County Durham to do so), adjacent to the Roman Catholic section.[2] [6] [7] On the cemetery's expansion in 1926, another section was dedicated at the new western edge and on the cemetery's final expansion in 1926, the new north-west section was dedicated and a Jewish prayer house was built; this section is currently fenced-off from the other wards of the cemetery.[7]

War Graves

In the First World War, part of Ward 3 (Section A) of the cemetery was set apart for burials of servicemen. This plot, at a central point on the path linking the cemetery's two entrances, was extended in the Second World War. In all, 237 Commonwealth service personnel (all but about 100 of whom were buried in the plot) from the First World War and 156 from the Second are buried in this cemetery. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission are also responsible for 31 non-World War service burials and one Dutch war grave.[8] The Cemetery also contains a Cross of Sacrifice.[9]

Listed buildings

There are nine listed buildings within Bishopwearmouth Cemetery; all are Grade II. These are:

The central (Nonconformist) chapel was formerly a listed building until it was demolished due to vandalism.[19] The memorial to the Victoria Hall disaster, formerly situated in the cemetery and now in Mowbray Park, is also a listed building.[20]

Notable burials

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chequered 150-year history of Wearside resting places . . 18 July 2006 . 6 August 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080602224025/http://www.sunderlandecho.com/daily/Chequered-150year-history-of-Wearside.1634852.jp . 2 June 2008 . dead .
  2. Web site: Old Maps . old-maps.co.uk . 6 August 2008.
  3. Web site: Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to 2007 . MeasuringWorth . 6 August 2008.
  4. Web site: Once growing, now fading . . 10 September 2006 . 6 August 2008.
  5. Web site: Sunderland – A Litvak Community in North East England . Jon Seligman . 6 August 2008.
  6. Web site: Sunderland Burials Available at Durham Records Online . Durham Records Online . 6 August 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081007100742/http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/06/sunderland-buri.html . 7 October 2008 . dmy .
  7. Web site: Cemetery Project . International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies . 6 August 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080925182109/http://www.jewishgen.org/Cemetery/brit/england.html . 25 September 2008 . dmy .
  8. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/38024/SUNDERLAND%20(BISHOPWEARMOUTH)%20CEMETERY
  9. Web site: Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Cross of Sacrifice. 26 May 2021.
  10. Web site: North Entrance Including Gates, Piers and Railings to Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  11. Web site: South Entrance Including Gates, Piers and Railings to Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  12. Web site: North Chapel Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland. British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  13. Web site: South Chapel Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  14. Web site: South East Lodge Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  15. Web site: Webster Tomb 210 Metres West of South East Lodge Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2012.
  16. Web site: Bolam Tomb 200 Metres West of South East Lodge at Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  17. Web site: Taylor Tomb 210 Metres West of South East Lodge at Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  18. Web site: Vaux Tomb 196 Metres West of South East Lodge at Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  19. Web site: Central Chapel Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Sunderland . British Listed Buildings . 5 May 2013.
  20. Web site: Listed Buildings – Number: 920-1/4/39 – Description . Sunderland City Council . 7 August 2008.

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