CHAPTER XI - Cemeteries

ANFIELD CEMETERY

The true name of this cemetery is the "Liverpool Cemetery," inasmuch as it belongs to the parish of Liverpool, but as it is better known by its popular name we have placed it at the front of this notice. The cemetery is situate in Priory Road, Anfield, Walton. It consists of 140 acres of land, which was purchased for the parish of Liverpool by the Burial Board in 1859. The ground was beautifully laid out by Mr Kemp, landscape gardener, of Birkenhead. It was first opened in burials in 1863. It is under the control of the Liverpool Burial Board. The registrar and the secretary to the board is Mr Turvey. The cemetery is for the burial of persons of all religious persuasions, about forty acres of the ground being at present allotted for the Established Church, and twenty acres each for the Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. The residue of the land is at present unappropriated, but can be applied as occasion may require. Attached to the cemetery are three very handsome churches, belonging respectively to the three denominations of Christians before named.

The Friends (or commonly called Quakers) have an appropriate cemetery in Smithdown Lane, which is under the government of a committee of their own body.

JEWISH BURIAL GROUNDS

The Jews of Liverpool have three burial grounds. The oldest one is the now disused cemetery at the corner of Oakes Street. The new cemetery is situate in Deane Street, Kensington, and this is the one now used by the general Jewish community for the burial of their dead. IT has a handsome frontage. The entrance gateway is in the form of an arch, over which there is a portico resting on fluted Doric columns. The consecration and first interment took place in September, 1837. There are attached to the cemetery a lodge for the keeper, and a chapel for the performance of the funeral service. There is also a cemetery in Green Lane, West Derby, which is the property of the new Hebrew congregation.

THE NECROPOLIS

This burial place, which is sometimes called by its original name of the Low Hill cemetery, is situate at the juncture of Brunswick Road and West Derby Road, extending backwards to Mill Road. It is an oblong square of about five acres enclosed by a stone wall. The cemetery was established by the Baptists, their ancient burial place of burial, which lies on the west side of it, having become filled. This burial ground is situate in Everton Road, beyond the brick wall with a gateway in the centre. The ground was in olden time a garden connected with the dwelling house of a good and pious man named "Daniel Fabius, alias Bean." The house stood near to the north-west corner of the ground. Fabius was of the persuasion of Anabaptists, who had their origin in this part of the country at Warrington, and he was a lay preacher amongst them. H would seem to have had a godly sister, named Hannah, who was joint owner of the house and garden, for in the deed transferring the land a free gift, under trustees, as a place of burial for the Anabaptists for ever, the names of Daniel and Hannah are used jointly in the same document. Daniel Fabius is described severally as a chemist, a druggist, and a doctor pg physic. The cemetery subsequently became the property of shareholders, as a general burial ground, and the dead of all denominations, or who belong to no denomination at all, can be interred in it. The entrance to the ground consists of a cornice supported by two pillars. The chapel, which is of the Grecian style of architecture, stands on the east side of the entrance, and the house of the registrar, which is of similar architecture, on the west side. At the time the ground was laid out for a cemetery, in 1825, there were comparatively few houses near to it. The cemetery is a favourite resort of the melancholy disposed and contemplative. A portion of it is laid out as a garden, having flower beds, lawns, ornamental shrubberies, &c. The tomb stones are kept in excellent order, and the inscriptions on many of them are well-calculated to awaken thoughts of a seriously contemplative kind. The cemetery was opened on the 1st of February, 1825. It cost nearly �8,000. Persons interring may avail themselves of the services of their own minister, by consulting the convenience of the chaplain on the premises.

LIVERPOOL PAROCHIAL CEMETERY

This burial ground is situate in Rice Lane, Walton, on the south side of the Borough Gaol. It is under the management of the churchwardens of the parish of Liverpool. It consists of about thirty acres of land, and is chiefly used for the interment of paupers, but the friends of any deceased parishioner, provided they are parishioners, can obtain graves by paying a small charge for the ground. The ground was purchased by the Select Vestry some twenty years ago, but not used for interments until about 1868.

ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY

The Roman Catholic body of christians at Liverpool have an extensive cemetery at Ford, near Litherland (between five and six miles from Liverpool) for the burial of the dead of their own persuasion. The officiating priest is the Rev Moses Doon. The clerk is Mr Michael Daly, at whose office, 16, Manchester Street, all applications for graves and vaults are to be made.

SMITHDOWN LANE [OR TOXTETH-PARK CEMETERY]

Some few years ago the authorities of Toxteth Park purchased thirty acres of land on the west side of Smithdown Lane, at the rate of �500 per acre for the purpose of a cemetery for the inhabitants of the southern part of Liverpool. the ground was beautifully laid out, and lately it has been considerably enlarged. It is under the control of the Toxteth Park Burial Board. Parties interring are, as in the case of most of the cemeteries, at liberty to avail themselves of the services of the ministers appointed, or, if desired, of their own minister, and use their own form of worship.

ST JAMES'S CEMETERY

This cemetery, which is in connection with the Established Church, is situate between Parliament-street, Canning-street, St James's-road, and Hope-street. It is a dell, which was formerly a quarry, and it is one of the most beautiful and suitable places that could well have been found for the solemn purpose to which it is set apart. The Corporation gave the quarry (the stone taken from which was used in the erection of various public buildings), and the sum of �20,000 to complete the design was raised by public subscription. The area contains 45,000 square yards, the length being 1,500, the breadth 270 feet, and the depth 60 feet. On the eastern side of the cemetery is a wall of masonry, 1,110 feet in length, and 52 feet in height, in which there are a great number of catacombs, the entrances to which are approached by inclined planes. At the base of the wall, nearly opposite to the centre of the cemetery is a spring, the water of which is said to be impregnated with iron and to possess curative and medicinal qualities. Large numbers of afflicted persons resort to the spring for the benefit of its water, and many are the bottles of water carried away daily. The following lines are painted on the rock from which the spring issues: -

"Christian, reader view in me

An emblem of true charity,

Who freely what I have bestow,

Though neither heard nor seen to flow;

And I have full returns from Heaven

For every cup of water given."

In the area of the cemetery there are numerous elegant monuments, some of which bear impressive inscriptions, all of them affectionate ones, and beautiful flower beds planted over graves give pleasing testimony to the sorrow of grieving relatives and friends. The principal monumental object of interest is the mausoleum of Huskisson, which is situate about the centre of the cemetery. The great statesman lost his life by a melancholy accident that occurred to him on the occasion of the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, in 1830. The interment took place on the 12th of September in that year. The funeral was a public one, and thousands who admired the great statesman's policy, or reverenced his brilliant talents apart from it, attended to pay their tribute of sorrow to the memory of one of England's greatest legislators, whose greatness is commemorated by the erection of the mausoleum. The case enclosing the monument is built of white free stone, and is covered with a dome through which the light enters. The dome is supported by three-quarters fluted Corinthian columns, and is surmounted by a cross. The statue, by being thus enclosed, is seen to much disadvantage. The figure representing the deceased statesman was cut out of a solid piece of white marble. It is seven feet high. The figure habited in a Roman toga (the drapery hanging loosely), is remarkably well disposed. The statue is said to bear a striking resemblance to the great original, and it is a beautiful specimen of a work of art. It was erected in 1836. There are also other monuments by Gibson, one of which, in the Oratory, was from memory, as a testimony to a lady for her friendly aid towards him in his youth. Shrubberies slope down a steep incline on the west side of the cemetery, from which side there are two entrances, one at the north and the other at the south end. Between these entrances stands, beautifully situated, the house of the officiating minister. The Oratory, in which the funeral ceremony is performed, is at the north end of the cemetery. It is a small classic building, of the pure Doric order, and was copied from a Greek Hyfalthral temple. The appearance of the building is strikingly effective, as it stands near to the edge of a rock, cut perpendicularly down. The foundation stone of the church, or oratory, was laid on the 28th of August, 1827, by Thomas Littledale, Esq, then mayor of the borough. The ground was consecrated on the 12th of January, 1829, by Dr Sumner, then Lord Bishop of the Diocese. The trustees are three members of the Corporation, and the Rev the Rector of Liverpool. A visit to the cemetery will prove both interesting and instructive. It is open to the public every day except Sunday.

ST MARY'S CEMETERY

This cemetery, which is principally the burial place of Nonconformists, is situate on the north side of Kirkdale Road, near to St Mary's Church, but with which it is not connected. The cemetery contains three acres of ground. The front it beautifully constructed of stone, ornamented with coats of arms, heads, turrets, pinnacles, &c. The entrance is through a fine arched gateway, of the Gothic order of architecture. On the north side there is a neat chapel, and on the south the minister's house. The interior is fitted up with carved oak, and the ceiling is ribbed with the same material. Over the entrance is the date, AD 1837, and the appropriate inscription, "Mors Janua Vit�." Parties interring are at liberty to avail themselves of the services of the chaplain, or, if desired, of their own minister, and use their own form of burial.

WHITTY'S GUIDE TO LIVERPOOL