newcastle general cemetery
'the cemetery is ornamentally laid out,
and yet there is no mistaking it for a mere garden'
(Daughter of John Dobson, Cemetery Architect)
information
The Newcastle General Cemetery, established during 1834-6, was the second of the nineteenth century cemeteries to be built in the city. Dr Maltby the Bishop of Durham opened the General Cemetery on November 11th 1836 at a ceremony that was well attended despite the bad weather. The western part of the ground was consecrated and the eastern part left unconsecrated.
The cemetery designer John Dobson was a well-known local architect. Dobson was commissioned by the General Cemetery Company to design the entire cemetery planting, layout and buildings. Dobson was assisted by a sexton gardener, hired during 1856, in the laying of the serpentine paths and the tree and shrub planting.
An early version of Dobson's design shows a more formal plan with a straight promenade forming the main north south carriageway and the main buildings placed centrally and at the Southeastern corner. The promenade from the main buildings was to be lined with monuments, culminating at large obelisk. Inside the cemetery there are various outstanding monuments including obelisks, urns and Celtic crosses largely belonging to leading commercial and industrial figures from the early Victorian city. The largest monument, designed by Dobson himself, is that of Archibald Reed (died 1843) consisting of a large gothic pinnacle on a square base.
The planting was informal and included many trees such as holly, common yew, common lime, common ash, beech, and elder. There are a few examples of white willow, silver birch and cherry. Both the planting and shaping of ground levels provide a variety of secluded spaces within the cemetery for groups of monuments. A description from 1841 of the cemetery mentions that 'many of the graves are ornamented with flowers intended as tributes of respect to the memory of the departed.' This practice of planting flowers on graves was common in the early cemeteries particularly for those who could not afford stone memorials.
The main carriage way through the cemetery curves between the two gates. On either side of the main carriageway is a small hillock containing a series of vaults. Ground levels across the site vary slightly supported by small stone walls. The ground rises with progression alongside the main carriageway and stone steps are provided up to the level of the vaults. Paths are informally arranged and are generally at a lower level than the ground used for burial.
The fashionable architectural style of the time was Greek revival and the buildings are of Greek design and geometric in form. The architecture of the cemetery was admired by John Claudius Loudon, a leading influence in 19th century British cemetery design, and the main entrance was included in the supplementary engravings
'We consider it as peculiarly appropriate for a cemetery,
on account of its church like towers:
one of which is used as a belfry,
and the other contains a clock.'
(John Claudius Loudon -
'On the Laying Out, Planting and Managing of Cemeteries') .
The main entrance consists of a large semi-circular arch flanked by two square towers containing small staircases. The semicircular arch is Roman in origin. The pedestrian entrance on Sandyford Road consists of two masonry piers topped with sarcophagi. There is a small neo-classical lodge built next to this entrance which originally accommodated an assistant gravedigger. There are two chapels ,and beneath are catacombs, twenty-two shelved enclosures, linked by an underground passage.
The boarder is clearly marked by a two and a half metre high stone rubble boundary wall that screens both the cemetery and the rest of the city from each other. Dobson also designed the new road onto which the main entrance of the cemetery faces. This road originally named Cemetery Road (currently Jesmond Road) also houses All Saints Cemetery built 1853.
