Lost Cemeteries

Hector · Post by **Hector** » Sat 15 Sep, 2007 8:33 pm

I was recently looking at old maps of Leeds and noticed, that there used to be a cemetery on Infirmary Street, presumaby because of the Infirmary, another one was situated next to Oxford Pace Chapel. There was one at St.Peters Quarry Hill which I think was moved in about 1908 due to slum clearance, the bodies were moved to Harehills cemetery (there used to be a memorial marker, which has now gone). I was wondering if there are any other lost cemeteries anywhere in Leeds.

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Mon 17 Sep, 2007 1:45 pm

Hector wrote: I was recently looking at old maps of Leeds and noticed, that there used to be a cemetery on Infirmary Street, presumaby because of the Infirmary, another one was situated next to Oxford Pace Chapel. There was one at St.Peters Quarry Hill which I think was moved in about 1908 due to slum clearance, the bodies were moved to Harehills cemetery (there used to be a memorial marker, which has now gone). I was wondering if there are any other lost cemeteries anywhere in Leeds. there is still a large cross with memorial marker in harehills cemetery,telling the reader of where and when the graves were re-intered there.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Mon 17 Sep, 2007 4:04 pm

St George's Fields at the Uni was the old woodhouse cemetery.Also part of Cross Flatts Park, the top end opposite Dewsbury Road was part of the Cemetery over the road at one time. Apparently the council cleared part of it to make Cross Flatts Park.

Hector · Post by **Hector** » Tue 18 Sep, 2007 4:28 pm

Thanks, wiggy obviously I am as gormlessa s the kids when it comes to looking.

stevief · Post by **stevief** » Wed 10 Oct, 2007 11:26 pm

The railway embankment opposite the Palace is covered with grave stones.It seems a strange place to inter the dead,was the cemetrythere before the embankment?

drapesy · Post by **drapesy** » Thu 11 Oct, 2007 12:18 am

stevief wrote: The railway embankment opposite the Palace is covered with grave stones.It seems a strange place to inter the dead,was the cemetrythere before the embankment? Yes - I dont know the exact details but a large cemetery had to be moved to make way for the building of the railways - and many of the stones were placed (rather casually if you ask me!) on the embankment.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Thu 11 Oct, 2007 9:04 am

You can see just how the bridge connecting the City and Marrsh Lane stations just cuts straight through the bottom of town. It looks like when it was built there was a bit of haste and they had to just get it up ASAP to connect the two stations. If however you go down there and look at some of the graves it seems that some were victims of the Cholera outbreak in the 1840s. I had heard that the park area at the bottom of the embankment was still considered risky ground to to a threat of it still being contaminated. Not sure after over 150 years this would be th case but who knows!

Si · Post by Si » Thu 11 Oct, 2007 9:39 am

You're right, LS1. The line just cuts straight through town, regardless. However, just out of interest, I've seen a map of Leeds, dated 1835, which shows the 'proposed' line of the Bradford and Leeds Line passing to the south of the city, through Holbeck and Hunslet. It joins the Leeds and Selby Railway to the east, where there appears to be a branch heading towards the city centre.Sorry - a bit off thread!CheersSi

Hector · Post by **Hector** » Fri 23 Nov, 2007 10:11 pm

The railway line does cut through stright through the cemetery opposite the Parish Church and as far as I am aware the bodies were not moved. The Victorians were not as squeamish as we are about these things. In fact it was not uncommon for graves to be used for different burials just so as to get them in.

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sat 24 Nov, 2007 12:13 am

stevief wrote: The railway embankment opposite the Palace is covered with grave stones.It seems a strange place to inter the dead,was the cemetrythere before the embankment? There was a cemetary, the stones were just scattered on the embankment