Bygone Burnley: Burnley Cemetery, with historian Roger Frost MBE

Burnley’s oldest and original cemetery, Roger tells us, was the one at St Peter’s Church but by the middle of the 19th Century the town had grown to the point it needed a new resting place for its growing population.

Roger said: “The town started looking for somewhere else in the mid 1800s. The improvement commisioners found the site off Rossendale Road and in 1856 built the archway at the entrance, which is still standing, albeit at a slightly different location.

“The original cemetery keeper’s house is also still standing.”

Our article and video shows a picture of Cemetery Lodge as it was in around 1900. The original arched entrance of 1856 to the cemetery can be seen, right in the image. This has since been moved a little further up Cemetery Road but it is still carrying out its original function, though the cemetery was enlarged considerably in the 20th Century.

One of the first monuments seen on entrance to the oldest part of the cemetery is to the Burnley men who served their country in some of the great conflicts of the 19th Century, including the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War.

Moving further down we come to the grave of Thomas Healey, ‘the father of Burnley musicians’.

“At the top of the memorial there are musical instruments carved out of stone. Thomas’ son, also Thomas, was the first person to sing for Queen Victoria at the Royal Albert Hall in London. A fact often forgotten that should be remembered.”

We then come to the grave of the Massey family, the famous Burnley brewing dynasty. Started in 1750, originally known by a different name, and bought in the 1820s by the family. Lord Massey, who died in 1877, founded the business. He was named ‘Lord’ as that was the maiden name of his mother, a common practice at the time.

Edward Stocks Massey, who left a fortune to Burnley musical and cultural groups, is also remembred.

The final grave we look at is that of William Angelo Waddington, a partner in his father’s business of architects, responsible for many fine buildings in Burnley.