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Where is the oldest graveyard in South Yorkshire?


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The four 'Million Act' Churches with opening dates:

 

St George's, Brookhill 1825

Christ Church, Attercliffe 1826

St Philip's, Shalesmoor 1828

St Mary's Bramall Lane 1830

 

Hugh

 

thanks for those dates, hugh, I wasn't *too* far out in my reckonings, I just came down on the side of them being 20-or-so years "newer" than they are.

 

(are you saying that CCA and SPS were also by the same architect? I have a pic of attercliffe church, and it is quite similar to SMBL and SGB)

 

PT

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My source is Canon Odom's Memorials of Sheffield (1922). The architects he names are:

 

St George's - Woodhead & Hurst, Doncaster

Christ Church - J Taylor, Leeds

St Philip's - Mr Taylor, Leeds (presumably the same as for Christ Church)

St Mary's - J.Potter, Lichfield

 

Odom quotes an inscription at St Mary's which says that the 'resident' architect was 'R.Potter'. I have found some other references to Joseph and Robert Potter as the architects.

 

Hugh:)

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I disagree - cemeteries look absolutely wonderful when they're neglected and overgrown. More often than not they simply become reclaimed by nature and end up as far more interesting places than the regimented, formal and largely characterless 'cared-for' cemeteries.

 

As an added bonus, the Wardsend cemetery is a great place to take band photos, particularly if you're a little on the 'gothic' side.... ;)

 

Not exactly what it was built for, but whatever takes your fancy nowadays!

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I disagree - cemeteries look absolutely wonderful when they're neglected and overgrown. More often than not they simply become reclaimed by nature and end up as far more interesting places than the regimented, formal and largely characterless 'cared-for' cemeteries.

 

As an added bonus, the Wardsend cemetery is a great place to take band photos, particularly if you're a little on the 'gothic' side.... ;)

 

Totally disagree look at the war cemeteries in France, if you think they would look better neglected, we are on different planets

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I used to do the same, it's very interesting.

If you make a note of names off gravestones and type them into the computer, sometimes it throws up some interesting facts about the person, like which war they served in etc.

 

At the rear of St Mary's at Ecclesfield, there is someone buried there off Nelsons flagship!.

 

Quite right. It is Alexander John Scott who was Admiral Nelson's Chaplain aboard HMS Victory. He was on board at the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson died in his arms. Scott's daughter Margaret, married Alfred Gatty, firstly Rev. Alfred Gatty, curate of Bellerby Moor, then Rev. Alfred Gatty DD, vicar of Ecclesfield for 63 years. The Gatty family is famous in literary circles, as talented as The Brontes of Haworth. Not quite so famous, as their books were not bodice ripping as those of The Brontes. One of their daughters, Juliana, invented the name 'The Brownies', a name adopted by Baden-Powell for the junior Girl Guides.

 

Look at the church from the front. Take the right path to the rear of the church. Past the stone sarcophagus until you reach the door to the crypt. Look to your right and you will see the grave. The Gatty grave is at the side of the gate leading to the former vicarage (now a private dwelling). Just over the wall there are the Gatty dogs graves, complete with headstones.

 

In nearby Priory Road stands The Gatty Memorial Hall, a lasting tribute to the Reverend Doctor Gatty, erected shortly after his death in 1901, and paid for by public donations. My maternal grandmother paid three old pennies (3d) each week to the building fund.

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I think the oldest graves might be in Conisbrough, just south of Doncaster. There's a church there that dates from the 9th century, it predates the castle, and its still in use. Conisbrough's got a lovely old church and a restored castle but no-one knows about it for some reason. It's where the book Ivanhoe is set.

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