Buildings
Westgate Hill Cemetery
This cemetery opened in the West End of Newcastle in 1829 and is one of England’s earliest examples of a garden cemetery. The site is Grade II listed, alongside some of the monuments within.
At a glance
- Plans for a new burial ground began in 1825 when Ballast Hills, the most common burial ground for people who were not Anglican was becoming over-crowded.
- It is also an early example of a ‘commercial cemetery’ meaning that it was developed by a private company with shareholders.
- The architects were John and Benjamin Green, a father and son team also famous for The Literary and Philosophical Society building and The Theatre Royal in Newcastle.
- Burials stopped here in 1957 and the chapel was demolished in 1970.
- Today, it is one of two local cemeteries involved in the Stories of the Stones project led by T+WBPT.
2023 – Today
Our work
Westgate Hill Cemetery is currently on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register as it has been victim to vandalism and anti-social behaviour. A lack of funding has also led to the site becoming overgrown with invasive weeds and many of the monuments being in disrepair. Now, however, T+WBPT are working with Newcastle City Council and funders to improve safety at the site and share more about its history.
Working closely with Newcastle City Council, the first steps towards protecting the site and being able to share it with the local community included an assessment of the current trees and landscape, followed by the removal of vegetation posing an issue to visibility, the removal of 3 diseased ash trees, and the replacement of these with healthy new trees.
Activities like wildflower planting and litter-picks that have taken place at St John’s cemetery, however, have not taken place due to safety concerns. Given the location of the cemetery and its overgrown condition, the site also faces problems linked to drug and alcohol abuse and rough sleeping. The Trust are addressing these issues by working with Newcastle City Council and local charities. Less tree and shrub coverage has made the site a less likely spot for anti-social behaviour by opening up sight lines and offering fewer places to hide.
Though the site, in the earlier stages of the Stories of the Stones project, has been challenging to engage with physically, its history has been fascinating to uncover. Delving into the archives at North East Museums, the Stories of the Stones group of volunteers have been able to find out about the founding of the cemetery and the lives of those buried there.
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, and what better way to do that than to ensure that local communities are at the heart of formulating plans for this fantastic restoration project.
Helen featherstone, Director of England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund
1825- 1957
History
Plans for a new cemetery in Newcastle began in 1825 when the Board of Trustees for Ballast Hills Burial Ground in the Ouseburn area of the city appointed a committee to explore fundraising options as Ballast Hills was quickly becoming overcrowded. Burial at Ballast Hills came with a much lower cost than other cemeteries, making it the only place Newcastle’s poor could afford to bury their loved ones but, as the ground was also unconsecrated by the Anglican Church, it was also favoured by people from different faiths and denominations.
What became Westgate Hill Cemetery Company was the fifth private cemetery company to be set up in the country, and also one of the country’s first garden cemeteries. Traditionally, previous burial grounds were within church land and prioritised maximising the number of burials. Garden cemeteries instead laid out the site in a similar way to parks, including plants and trees to create a peaceful site of remembrance.
Unlike other garden cemeteries in England and wider Europe, however, the land at Westgate Hill was “drained […] and laid out in such a manner as scientific persons recommend’ in an attempt to maintain public hygiene. The vision for Westgate Hill was therefore a mix of two seemingly opposing nineteenth-century movements: romanticism and rationalism.
Alongside sanitary and religious concerns, Westgate Hill Cemetery was established in response to a more pressing threat: resurrection men. The early to mid nineteenth century brought with it huge changes in the medical profession and cadavers to learn from were in high demand, meaning that bodies were snatched and sold to surgeons. To address local concerns and make the site secure, the company originally installed 14ft high railings and briefly added gas lighting to deter thieves.
The burial ground remained in use until 1957 and the mortuary chapel was demolished in 1970 as it had deteriorated beyond repair.
Among those buried at Westgate Hill are Luke Clennel, a famous local artist who worked with Thomas Bewick, historian Eneas Mackenzie, surgeon James Wilkie, and Corsair – a Native American infant from the Ioway tribe who died whilst his family were touring Europe. To find out more, head to the Stories of the Stones section of our site and look out for upcoming events.
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