Timeline

1836 - Nonconformist cemetery opened

The huge number of deaths at this time meant that the churchyards in Sheffield were becoming full to overflowing. The dead were often kept under the floor of the church, and sometimes in these places you could really smell death.

Foul liquid from the rotting bodies leaked out through the thin soil - and it was not unknown to see bits of corpses sticking out from the overfilled graves. People became disgusted with these gruesome sights and the revolting stench.

One writer described a Sheffield graveyard:

'Complaints are made of the offensive nature of the interments within the town. One churchyard in the middle of the town is peculiarly offensive. It is very much crowded with bodies and as the soil is considerably above the level of the surrounding street, the exuding of putrid liquid from the soil is visible to the eye and offensive to the smell.'

New burial grounds were needed!

Industrialisation had given rise to new opportunities and new professions. Now people like shopkeepers, bankers and engineers, through hard work and enterprise, became wealthy. They chose to live on the pleasant outskirts of the town away from the dirt and smoke of their factories and workplaces.

This new middle class, with its new money, was set apart from the world of inherited wealth (the gentry) above them, and the working class below them. They were set apart from the gentry not only in status but also in politics and religion. The Church of England (also called the Anglican Church) is the Established Church, or official religion, in England.

However, the people in the new middle class were mainly Nonconformists, that is, they were Protestants who were separate from the Church of England. They were also known as Dissenters. Nonconformists had their own churches and worshipped in their own ways.

They did not want to be buried in Anglican cemeteries presided over by Anglican priests.

In addition, this newly evolved and empowered middle class wanted changes in society: for example, they wanted conditions for the working class to improve.

The Church of England, to which most of the gentry belonged, was very powerful and the Nonconformists saw the Church of England and the gentry as barriers blocking the way to reform.

The growing reaction of the Dissenters movement against the monopoly of the Established Church was a significant factor in the establishment of the new cemeteries, such as the Sheffield General Cemetery.

They did not wish the Anglican Church and its politics to control their lives or their deaths. The new cemetery would also be a symbol of Nonconformist independence and power.

In 1834 the General Cemetery company was formed to create a cemetery on nine acres of land in the Porter Valley.

The idea of a cemetery as a profit-making organisation was new. However, its backers, the Nonconformists, were eager to be part of a modern, ambitious project that would reflect their importance in society.

'The undertaking is of no ordinary magnitude'
said the shareholders.

They hired Samuel Worth to design a cemetery that met their high expectations. He used the sloping land and the views over the Porter Valley to great effect, creating a space that has more in common with a botanical garden than a graveyard. This was in line with the principles of the new cemetery movement, which was becoming popular in England at that time.

Social reformers were concerned about the worsening conditions in the expanding industrial towns, and the cemetery movement encouraged communities to create new burial grounds that could also be used as places where everyone could gather and go for walks.

Q8. Faith

more questions

Think about what you believe in. If you have a religion - what funeral rituals does your faith carry out? Some people are atheist - they don't believe God exists. Some people are agnostic - they don't know if God exists or not. There are a growing number of non-religious burial ceremonies, such as Humanist and Woodland burials. Sometimes people plan exactly what kind of funeral ceremony they want - where they are to be buried and the words that will be spoken. Do you know of any special non-religious rituals? Write and tell us and we'll put the best of your suggestions in our newsletter.