Nottingham Road Cemetery - Derbeians at Rest

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Cemeteries. Love them or loathe them - and most people are probably somehwere in between - we continue to need them. Here local historian Peter Seddon casts a roving eye over Nottingham Road Cemetery, the first municipal burial facility in Derby.

An old postcard of the imposing gothic entrance to Derby's 'new' cemetery at Nottingham Road. It was officially opened on 1 May 1855

Nottingham Road Cemetery in Derby is an important facility for the city, and has been so since it was first established in the 1850s. It is considered by English Heritage to be a 'park and garden', and is listed by them as having 'special historic interest'. Its main gatehouse and flanking lodges are Grade II listed structures.

It was in the early 1850s that Derby's authorities identified the urgent need for more burial space. This prompted the formation of the Derby Burial Board in 1853 and led to the establishment of the first municipal cemetery in Derby. It was situated in what was then Chaddesden - outside the Derby boundary - between Nottingham Road and Derby Canal, the line of the latter now subsumed by the A52 carriageway.

The complex in its entirety can be considered a minor 'work of art'. The gothic style entrance and lodges - now Grade II listed - were designed by Henry Isaac Stevens RA (1806-73), an acclaimed Derby architect with an extensive practice.

The attractive grounds were planted out by a Mr. Lee of Hammersmith, it is thought under the direction of William Barrow (1800-91), the head gardener at Elvaston Castle since 1840.

The cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Lichfield in April 1855 and officially opened on 1 May 1855, with eight acres left unconsecrated for non-denominational burials or Catholic use.

The grounds were extended by 10 acres in 1880, and in 1895 the Corporation took over the running of the cemetery from the Derby Burial Board. It was extended by a further 9 acres in 1898, and again in both 1921 and 1936.

As at 2007 it is one of six cemeteries maintained by Derby City Council. Its grounds are generally well looked-after, but some controversy surrounds the practice of making safe supposedly 'hazardous' gravestones by laying them flat to the ground. For that reason the cemetery has lost some of the ordered neatness for which it was once renowned.

Many of the earliest and most lavish monuments to the departed were executed by Joseph Barlow Robinson (1821-83). He had worked as a carver for Pugin and Barry on the Palace of Westminster, before returning to Derby to set up the Midland Sculptural and Monumental Works.

The cemetery receives a steady flow of living visitors on any single day - some to attend burial ceremonies, others to pay respects to loved ones already at rest. There has also been a significant increase in callers engaged in 'family history' research, a common quest being to find the grave of a relative. The staff at the gatehouse lodge will help as much as they can within their working remit - the more information they can be provided with concerning names and dates, the better their chance of locating a grave.

Some would consider it strange to suggest that a stroll in a cemetery can be a pleasant experience. But Nottingham Road Cemetery provides a quiet and tranquil backdrop away from the hurly-burly of traffic and shoppers. This has also rendered the grounds rather a haven for wildlife - many birds, including the less common jay and green woodpecker, have made the cemetery grounds their territory.

A stroll amongst the gravestones can be both curiously diverting and historically instructional. It is difficult to walk for long without recognising a name from Derby's history, for many of its 'city fathers' and leading industrialists are buried there. Sportsmen, too, are represented - two such graves belong to the Derby County and England footballer Steve Bloomer, and the cricketer Unwin Sowter, who played in Derbyshire's first ever county match, and was later Mayor of Derby.

Countless further 'names' in sport, industry, the arts, entertainment, and commerce are yet to be precisely located - so keeping your eyes well-peeled may yet yield a completely new discovery.

If you know of such a grave, or have anything else to say about the Nottingham Road Cemetery, you can add it to this page. Just click Edit at the top of this page and write your contribution below the final paragraph.

A further page on the Bygone Derbyshire site is called Grave Matters - this lists the locations in Derbyshire of some unusual gravestones, and those belonging to well-known or interesting figures. To see who they are or to add to the list, just click on the green link above. '

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