Buildings
St. John’s Cemetery
This cemetery opened in 1857 in response to the overcrowding of the city’s other burial grounds and as a place to bury nonconformist Christians and people of different faiths.
At a glance
- The twinned entrance lodges are grade II listed, as are multiple monuments within the grounds.
- The site has been expanded through the centuries and over 105,000 people have been buried there since it opened.
- The Trust became involved with St. John’s Cemetery in 2023 to encourage local engagement with the site and to develop plans for a repair project.
- To find out more about the project, head to the Stories of the Stones website here.
2023 – Today
Our work
The Trust began work on St John’s Cemetery in April of 2023 as part of the Stories of the Stones project, supported by Historic England and Newcastle City Council. These early days of the project included reaching out to members of the community who have a connection to the site, improving interpretation for visitors, plus assessing the condition and increasing the security of some of the buildings to prevent further damage.
The 2023-2024 phase of the project focused on building community interest in the site by working with local arts practitioners to invite local people to research stories linked with the cemetery, and to use this research to create art and poems about the cemetery’s residents.
From people who come to the cemetery to walk their dogs or for a peaceful space in urban Newcastle, to those who have relatives and loved ones buried here, the team sought to draw in anyone with an interest in the site and with ideas of how to share that passion with the wider community.
Beginning in Spring of 2025, the second phase of the project, supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund, builds upon community engagement across the themes of heritage and nature, and focuses more closely on finding new uses for the lodges and chapels within the cemetery.
Empowering local people to get involved in this project will better inform the work that needs to be done in the cemeteries, and I hope as many people as possible do get involved
Deputy leader of Newcastle City Council and Cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services, Cllr Alex Hay
1855 – 2023
History
Plans began for a new burial ground in the West End of Newcastle in 1855 as a response to the huge growth in the city’s population both in terms of numbers but also increasing cultural diversity. The Industrial Revolution better connected cities like Newcastle with the wider world, meaning that people from different cultural backgrounds came to live and work in the region. However, existing burial grounds in the region had rules and traditions that meant these people could not be laid to rest there. Also, as many of these burial grounds belonged to the Church of England, people of different faiths or of different Christian denominations were excluded from these spaces.
Although industrialisation brought about population growth and better living standards in some ways, the cramped conditions and poor public health faced by many of Newcastle’s residents led to devastating outbreaks of cholera in 1831-32, 1849, and a third major outbreak in 1853-54. Cholera is a bacterial disease spread by drinking contaminated water. The way the disease spread was not discovered until the 1850s and water supplies in urban areas were often dirtied by animal waste and sewage. The high death toll from these outbreaks meant that older burial grounds in the region quickly became overcrowded.
As Elswick had only become part of Newcastle in 1835, previously being its own township and part of the county of Northumberland, the land available here presented a suitable location for the much needed new burial ground.
Part of the plans for what would become St John’s Cemetery included a competition to design the two chapels, two entrance lodges, and the gates and fences. The competition had 14 entries and was ultimately won by Johnstone and Knowles. The design of the lodges was quite plain and functional but the main entrance gate and chapels were designed in the Gothic style, taking influence from nature and standing in contrast to blocky industrial buildings.
Before the cemetery was complete, part of the land was sold to be used as a Jewish burial ground, allowing for another prominent community in the city to have a resting place fitting with their cultural traditions.
By 1899, the cemetery was already becoming full, so it was extended into a nearby field. The original plan and this extension made St John’s the largest burial ground in Newcastle with over 120,000 people buried there.
Some of St John’s most famous residents include doctors, politicians, and even the inventor of the kipper! John Woodger ran a public house in Newcastle in the 1840s and accidentally invented kippers when his shed being used to store salted herring caught fire! Though much has been written about some of those buried at St John’s, check out storiesofthestones.com to find out about its lesser-known graves.
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