The Cemetery

In 1852 Parliament legislated to take action to deal with the health risks caused by over crowded graveyards. The Burials Act of 1852 stipulated that no new burial ground or cemetery shall be provided and used in the Metropolis, without the previous approval of one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.

If it was felt that a new burial ground was needed the churchwardens were to call a vestry meeting and any resolution passed was to be sent to the Secretary of State. The vestry was to appoint a Board consisting of not less than three or more than nine persons. The way in which the Board should carry out its business is laid down in the Act. The members of the Board were appointed by the vestry but it was a body corporate and was a separate legal entity. The Burials Act 1853 extended this law to the rest of the country.

The church and the churchyard at Stapleford were closed to new burials by order of Queen Victoria on the 26^th October 1881 except for burials in vaults and walled graves and other graves which could be opened without the exposure of coffins.[1] However, the vicar was reported to the Home Secretary in November 1881 for interring a corpse contrary to the Order in Council.

Stapleford's Burial Board came into being in 1877. The first minute book starts with a meeting on 27^th May 1879. The members of the Board are John Whiteley, chairman, John Palmer, vice chairman, Joseph Fearfield, John Harrison, William Fletcher, Henry Mellors, Henry Rogers and Thomas Hampson. [2]

Sandhole Field had been identified as a suitable site but access had to be arranged. In order to achieve this a strip of land 30 feet wide up Stack Close was bought from the Trustees of Woodborough School.[3] George Eaton agreed to deliver possession of the Sandhole Field on the 29^th September 1879.[4] He did not actually deliver until the 25^th March 1880 when the trustees symbolically hammered a stake into the ground and affixed the Board's seal. [5]

The vestry met and sanctioned an application for a loan of £2500 from the Loan Commissioners. They also approved the draft plans- the ground plan was approved-the north side was to be consecrated, the south side for the excommunicated and the top part for future use, the chapels occupying the position shown on the plan. [6]. It would probably have been more accurate to use the words 'not in communion with the Church of England' rather than 'excommunicated'. The OS map of 1884 describes the two chapels as Church of England and Non-Conformist. The plans were sent to the Bishop and he, too, approved them.[7]

The construction of the two burial chapels was then undertaken. The architect was Mr. Sutton and Mr. C Moult's tender of £2750 was accepted.[8] At the same meeting the Board extended their thanks to Mr. J Fearfield for his generous gift of the land being used for the cemetery. [9] His gift is marked by a plaque on the stonework between the two chapels. In response to a letter from the Bishop of Lincoln the Board declined to assign and restrict any portion of the cemetery for the use of the C of E. They said that this was contrary to the spirit of the Burials Act 1880. [10] (This Act stated that it was not necessary to use the Anglican rite in burials in graveyards or cemeteries.)

The cemetery was opened on the 28^th July 1881 [11] and the first interment was on the 30^th July 1881. This was of Thomas Johnson, a married labourer, aged 68. The ceremony was performed by Mr. Henry Fletcher and a certificate under the Burial Laws Amendment Act 1880 was given by Edward Ball. He was buried in the Class C graves in the unconsecrated section of the cemetery in grave number 2049.[12]

In April 1895 a committee of the Parish Council was formed and this took over the duties of the Burial Board.[13] The Parish Council Minutes record that the Burial Board have handed over their duties in a friendly and gentlemanly manner. This comment perhaps indicates that other vestry committees had not been so keen to be relieved of their duties by the elected representatives.[14]

Rather strangely, law and order seems to be a problem in the cemetery. There were a number of requests for a police presence on Sunday afternoon.[15] The behavior of boys and girls was so bad that there was a threat to ban them completely from the cemetery [16] and on one occasion the police were thanked for their assistance at a recent funeral.[17] Dogs or smoking were prohibited in the cemetery.[18]

The Register of Burials gives an insight into infant mortality at the time. In 1881, the first year of the cemetery's life, 47 people were buried. Of these 21, or 45%. were under 5 [19]. In 1903 the number of children dying under 5 years of age was 54%[20] and in 1910 it was 50%.[21]

In May 1921 the cemetery was extended to the south when 3 acres of land was purchased as an extension.[22] Part was consecrated in February 1927.[23]

In 2019 the cemetery bell was restores to use having been silent for

A valuable resource for those interested in the cemetery is the meticulous work of Stapleford U3A who have transcribed the gravestones and memorials. Full details can be found on their website. link

A photograph and transcription of the gravestones in St. Helen's churchyard can be found here.link As is explained in that section, only 65 of the gravestones can now been seen. The rest were buried when the stones were repositioned in 1952. Most of the old sandstone headstones would be illegible and it is mainly those carved from slate that have survived,