PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Prior to the Burial Acts of 1852 (London) and 1853 (Provinces), most people were buried in church graveyards. The Act of 1853 gave local authorities powers to run their own cemeteries. The Drake Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery set within the green fields of Hay Farm at the most southern edge of Plympton St Mary, within easy reach of Plymstock. Work started on setting out the first five acres in November 1941. The Company had purchased a total of 37 acres and the work of laying it out was under the supervision of Mr L Alexander, who had considerable experience of these "Gardens of Rest" in America and Canada. The first general manager was Mr F J Alexander. Headstones and memorials are not permitted. Likewise, only two burials per grave are allowed although adjacent sites can be purchased so that whole families can be buried close together. Small stone memorial tablets are laid flush with the ground. It was planned to have 35,000 plots available in consecrated and unconsecrated areas and an agreement of perpetual management was entered in to with the old Plympton St Mary Rural District Council. The Bishop of Plymouth, the Venerable F Whitfield Daukes, consecrated the Drake Memorial Park on November 26th 1942. He was accompanied by the Rural Dean, the Reverend R H Lucas, from Yealmpton. Drake Memorial Park is still in operation. EFFORD CEMETERY Work started on laying out the ground of Efford Cemetery in 1904. The estimated cost was £5,000. On Wednesday May 7th 1907 the Rules and Regulations that would be applicable to Plymouth's New Cemetery were announced. The Cemetery was divided into three sections: Church of England; Roman Catholic; and General. Each of those sections was further divided into three, for different classes of internment. Four coffins were permitted to be placed in one eight feet deep grave. [1] Calculating the cost of the burial was complicated as there were different classes, A, B or C, and exclusive rights and non-exclusive rights. An exclusive earthen grave in Class C could cost £2 10s, rising to £3 10s in Class B and between £5 and £10 in Class A. A burial in a walled grave, brick grave or vault cost even more. The use of the Chapel was limited to twenty minutes and cost anything from one shilling for Class to four shillings for Class A, along with a payment of 3s 6d to the Minister. If the internment was to be in a walled or brick grave or a vault then the cost of the Chapel was six shillings and the Minister had to be given a further 6d [1] And then there were the extras. The use of a bier cost 6d, the use of a pall cost 2s 6d and the use of the bell on the Chapel was 2s 6d. If the funeral had the misfortune to arrive late then there was an extra charge of five shillings. And if you were a non resident of the Town of Plymouth the there was a surcharge of a quarter of the fee already calculated. If you were accompanied to your grave by a band or a firing party, then you had to be buried on a weekday and in the morning because they were not normally permitted after Midday. Furthermore if the deceased died of an infectious disease or emitted an offensive odour then he was not allowed in the Chapel. Thankfully, 'No servant of the Corporation employed in the cemetery may receive any gratuity.' [1] The gates of the 37-acre site at Efford Cemetery were unlocked on the gloriously fine afternoon of Thursday July 11th 1907 by the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr J F Winnicott. Alderman Cumming declared open the Chapel, where the chief speeches were made. It was announced that the Cemetery had cost £18,710 and that although thirty acres of ground had been acquired, only 7½ acres had so far been enclosed and formally laid out. Space had been provided for 5,175 plots. Doctor Trefusis, the Bishop of Crediton, consecrated the Church of England portion of the Cemetery on Wednesday August 19th 1907, in the presence of the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr J F Winnicott, and a large gathering of clergy, lay readers, Corporation officers and the general public. The crematorium was opened on Friday October 19th 1934 by the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr E Stanley Leatherby. It was constructed by Messrs A N Coles (Contractors) Ltd. The crematorium cost £3,750 to construct and consisted of two gas ovens with an ante-room between the chapel and the furnaces. There was also a large columbarium to contain the urns. Until now the nearest crematoria had been at Bristol and Southampton. [7] In March 1941 and again in April 1941 mass burials of those killed in the two Blitzes took place. At the service on the afternoon of Monday April 28th 1941, the graves were draped with Union Jacks and floral tributes ranging from humble posies of primroses to official wreaths and crosses. Those taking part included the Bishop of Exeter, the Bishop of Plymouth, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth and the Reverend W D Campbell representing the Nonconformist congregations. A representative from the Salvation Army was also present, as were Officers from the three Services. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Lord Astor, was prevented from attending by illness. Those killed in the Portland Square bomb shelter disaster are buried at Efford Cemetery. In addition, many of those remains removed from earlier burial grounds at Westwell Gardens (Saint Andrew's Church), Charles Church, Milehouse (Stoke Damerel Church) and the Quaker burial ground in Charles Street have been re-interred here. Efford Cemetery is still in operation and a fee will be charged for making a search of their burial registers. FORD PARK CEMETERY Located adjacent to Ford Park Road, with the main entrance by the Lodge at the junction of Ford Park Road and Central Park Avenue. The western side of this cemetery formed the border of Stoke Damerel/Devonport until 1914. Ford Park Cemetery is also referred to as the Old Cemetery. The PLYMOUTH, STONEHOUSE & DEVONPORT CEMETERY COMPANY was established in 1846 with a capital of £15,000 in £25 shares, for the purpose of supplying an extensive cemetery for the three towns, where the old burial grounds have long been crowded, especially those at the parish churches, and that in Westwell Street. This cemetery is pleasantly situated on a gentle acclivity, about half-a-mile north of Plymouth and about two miles from Devonport, and comprises 10 acres of ground, more than half of which was consecrated by the Bishop on June 5th 1849, for the use of the Established Church, and the rest is appropriated to Dissenters and was first opened in December 1848. The Act establishing the cemetery received the Royal Assent on June 18th 1846. On Thursday April 1st 1847 the plans of Messrs Hamilton and Medland, of Gloucester, were unanimously adopted and the work of laying out the Cemetery was to be started as quickly as possible. The chosen site covered some 18 acres and the main entrance was to be approached by a brand new road, 40 feet in width, with footpaths on either side, from Penny-come-quick. At the entrance was to be a Lodge for a gate-keeper or the Superintendent, from which a wide avenue of Cypress trees would lead up to two Gothic chapels. As 'The Oldest-established Paper in Plymouth' put it: 'The cemetery will be an ornament to the neighbourhood, and form a beautiful and interesting feature in the delightful scenery it is destined to occupy'. [5] It was intended to lay the foundation stones of the two Chapels on Monday August 9th 1847 but the ceremony had to be postpones due to heavy rain. The weather remained unsettled, however, so the ceremony was held the following day, Tuesday August 10th 1847, at 3pm. The Mayor of Plymouth, Mr T H Bulteel, officiated with the help of the vicar of Saint Andrew's Church, the Reverend John Hatchard, and the chairman of the board of directors, Mr W Prance. The stone of the Dissenters' Chapel was laid first and then the one for the Anglicans. After short prayers were said by the vicar of Saint Andrew's, the gathering exchanged their umbrellas for the shelter of a marquee, where the speeches were given. [4] The two Chapels, built in the Gothic style of grey Devon limestone with Bath stone dressings, were designed by Messrs J R Hamilton and James Medland, of Gloucester, and built by Mr Arnold, of Stonehouse. [4] Messrs Farley and Colwell were awarded the contract for the construction of the cemetery's boundary wall and a Mr Toll was contracted to construct the upper and southern roadways. The main road from Pennycomequick was under construction. [4] The cemetery was opened on December 1st 1848 and the first interment took place on unconsecrated ground on December 22nd 1848. Part of the consecrated ground was set aside for the interment of 408 bodies of those who died during the cholera outbreak in 1849. In 1850 the secretary was Mr John Long Colley of 3 St James Place; the chaplain was the Revd William Hacker. A portion of the new cemetery was in due course give over to those of the Roman Catholic faith and on the afternoon of Friday February 20th 1857 it was consecrated with due ceremony by the Right Reverend, the Bishop of Plymouth. Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse Cemetery (Extension) Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. Ch. lv) received the Royal Assent on June 14th 1875. In 1877-78 the Cemetery was described as being well enclosed and tastefully laid out, with two neat chapels, in the Decorated style, one for the consecrated, and the other for the unconsecrated division. About 8 acres of land adjoining had been purchased by the Company for an extension but was at that time let for pasturage. 'The cemetery forms a pleasant promenade and east of it is a newly made road through the beautiful grounds, called Hyde Park'. Mr Philip James Jory, of 11 Hyde Park Terrace, was at that time the secretary and the chaplain of the Church portion was the Reverend William Hayden Phillips. After many years of becoming slowly run down (the Chapel was deconsecrated back in the 1990s), in April 2000 the Ford Park Cemetery Trust took over the management. Ford Park Cemetery is still in operation. The older burial registers have been deposited at the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office, Clare Place, Coxside, Plymouth, but are not available for viewing because of their poor condition. However, the Devon Family History Society (SEE "Links Page") has indexed the burials for 1849 to 1870. The Cemetery Trust will charge a fee for searching the more recent burial registers. JEWISH CEMETERY The first Jewish burial took place in a private garden at Lambhay Green, by Plymouth Hoe. It was owned or leased by Mrs Sarah Sherrenbeck, the wife of Mr Joseph Jacob Sherrenbeck. This is thought to have taken place in 1748. As the Jewish community grew it became necessary to provide a proper burial ground and in June 1758 another quarter acre of ground adjacent to the Sherrenbeck's property was purchased. When a further extension was required in 1811, the land was conveyed to three local Jewish men, Mr Abraham Emanuel, of Plymouth Dock; Mr Michael Nathan, of Plymouth; Mr Benjamin Levy, of Plymouth, an optician; and a prominent non-Jew, Mr John Saunders, of Plymouth. At that time non-Jewish people were included in deeds and trusts in case there was a legal problem over the rights of the Jews to own the land or property. When further expansion was required in 1868 a plot of land in the Compton Gifford area was purchased and a proper chapel was erected. The first internment in the Jew's Cemetery was Mr Councillor William Woolf on December 3rd 1872 [2]. MILEHOUSE CEMETERY After a lengthy dispute and an inquiry by a Government inspector, Mr Holland, the Rector of Stoke Damerel Church, the Reverend W J St Aubyn, was ordered by Her Majesty's Privy Council to close the churchyard as it was considered to be full. The Vestry launched an appeal but this was dismissed and the burial ground was closed later in 1871. The Lord of the Manor was approached for a suitable site for a burial ground and an agreement was reached whereby some Glebe land fronting St Michael's Terrace and at Fitzroy Terrace would be exchanged for land owned by the Manor at Milehouse. The Manor land was assessed to be worth nearly £200 more than the Glebe land but his Lordship said that the Church could have the land, ground for ground. He also offered a further £900 towards laying out the new ground, although he was not obliged to. The ground was enclosed by a stone wall on three sides and a hedge on the fourth but when the Rector received the keys to the ground, he refused to accept them saying that the Lord of the Manor had not spent the money he promised. It was found that, in fact, £864 had been expended and his Lordship was prepared to spend the remaining £36 in any way the Rector wished. He even offered a further £100 to make the total up to £1,000. The cemetery was opened in 1871 and consecrated in October 1876. In 1967 the Cemetery was acquired by Compulsory Purchase order for the Central Electricity Generating Board, after many years of neglect as more and more burials took place at Weston Mill Cemetery. The graves were removed and the remains re-interred at Efford Cemetery. Records of burials in Milehouse Cemetery, including some photographs of headstones, at held by the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office, Clare Place, Coxside, Plymouth (SEE "Links Page"). RIDGE CROSS CEMETERY, PLYMSTOCK The Ridge Cross Cemetery is located outside the City boundary, alongside the road from Elburton to Wembury, just to the east of Staddiscombe. Constructed by the Plymstock Parish Council, the Ridge Cross Cemetery was opened and consecrated at 3pm on Thursday October 30th 1947. The Bishop of Exeter performed the consecration. WESTON MILL CEMETERY The land for Weston Mill Cemetery was purchased in 1899 from Mr Edward St Aubyn, the Lord of the manor, for £25,000. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid on June 16th 1903. The tender for the lodge and other buildings on the site, amounting to £1,572, was awarded to Mr Frederick J Stanbury on January 26th 1904. Weston Mill Cemetery was opened on November 10th 1904. The Free Church Council dedicated their portion of the Cemetery on November 16th 1904 [3]. The Church of England plot was consecrated by the Bishop of Exeter on November 22nd 1904, during a heavy fall of snow [3]. The first burial took place on November 26th 1904. By the end of that year twenty-five burials had taken place. The columbarium and garden of rest, both designed by Mr Joseph Simcock, of the City Engineer's Department, were dedicated by the Bishop of Plymouth, Doctor Norman H Clarke at a ceremony on the afternoon of a very wet and windy Thursday October 17th 1957. The Reverend Eric L Knight represented the President of the Plymouth Free Church Federal Council, the Reverend Ewart W Lewis, who was unable to attend. The stones used in the erection of the garden of rest came from blitzed sites in the City. [6] This is the site of a large number of Commonwealth War Graves. The burial registers are still held by the Cemetery and a fee will be charged for a search. Sources:
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