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1846 - The Anglican cemetery opened
A law was passed in 1845 that forbade paupers to be buried
in ground that was not consecrated.
Consecrated ground is set apart for holy use and has a special
legal status. The graveyard of an Anglican church, for example,
was consecrated ground but Nonconformist burial grounds were
not.
site of one of the paupers graves
Pauper burials were an important part of the cemetery's income
so the shareholders had to do something. They decided to create
an Anglican cemetery alongside the Nonconformist site. This
would also mean that they could gain much needed income by
burying members of the established church as well as paupers.
Robert Marnock and William Flockton were commissioned to
build the new Anglican site. The new Dissenters' wall became
an important marker between the old and the new sites.
However, the division was mainly symbolic because the architects
skilfully created a new site that was in keeping with the
ideals of the original design. There was still an emphasis
on creating a natural space that could be enjoyed by the community,
which you can see in the way the paths thread through planted
gardens in both sites.
The Dissenter's wall today
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