Woodhouse Cemetery
Woodhouse Cemetery (formally Leeds General Cemetery, and also known as Woodhouse Lane Cemetery and, since its closure in 1969, St George's Fields) is a former cemetery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is now within the campus of the University of Leeds, and has been landscaped and kept as an open space. Some original monuments, and the cemetery chapel, remain.
The Leeds General Cemetery Company was set up in 1833 to create a new cemetery as that of the parish church was full.[1] The cemetery opened in 1835, and a total of 93,569 interments took place in it. In 1956 the University of Leeds acquired a major shareholding in the company, and in 1965 the University of Leeds Act was passed which allowed the university to remove monuments and create a public open space. The company went into voluntary liquidation in 1967, the last burials took place in 1969, and the space was re-opened to the public in 1969 and renamed Saint George's Fields (the name of the area before the cemetery was created).[2] It is valued as a quiet space within the busy campus.[3]
Notable surviving monuments include those of circus proprietor Pablo Fanque (1796-1871), who was mentioned in the Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" from the LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and his wife Susannah Darby, and the 1892 Leeds Fire Brigade Memorial. Other notable people who were buried in the cemetery include Leeds artist Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) and Victoria Cross holder Charles Hull (1890-1953).
The cemetery chapel, built in 1835, is grade II listed along with a statue of Michael Sadler.[4] The cemetery lodge,[5] the Leeds Fire Brigade Memorial[6] and several groups of monuments[7][8][9] are also grade II listed.
Leeds University Library holds an archive of the Leeds General Cemetery Company and the indexed burial registers.[2]
References
- ^ "Life and death in Leeds". BBC Leeds. 25 April 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
- ^ a b "Leeds General Cemetery Company Limited MS 421" (PDF). Leeds University Library Special Collections - Handlist 40. Digitised 2003. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Spaces for quiet contemplation on campus: St George's Field". University of Leeds: Equality Service. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England.
Further reading
- "Leeds General Cemetery Company Limited MS 421" (PDF). Leeds University Library Special Collections - Handlist 40. Digitised 2003. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Includes a chronology of the company's history and an index of its papers held by the Library.
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