History
In the 1840s, Joseph Paxton was approached to design a large municipal cemetery for the expanding township of Birkenhead, but because of a recession and a subsequent decrease in the population, the plan went no further. [2] By the 1860s, a boom made the provision of a new cemetery a priority. A competition was held for the design which was won by Edward Kemp, [2] a pupil of Paxton's and Curator of Birkenhead Park. Kemp was assisted by Edward Mills, a prominent Birkenhead surveyor from Hamilton Square, and Messrs Lucy and Littler, architects of Liverpool. [2] The general contractor was William Rimmer of Bidston Hall, with John Middlehurst of St. Helens the contractor for buildings. [3] The site chosen was Flaybrick Hill, a prominent location overlooked by Bidston Hill. Originally 16.5 acres (6.7 ha) were purchased, but by the 1890s the site was extended to 26 acres (11 ha). [2]
The cemetery was officially opened 30 May 1864 and named Birkenhead Cemetery, and the site originally had three separate denominational chapels. [2] The Roman Catholic chapel was demolished in 1971 and a memorial wall has been erected on its site. The remaining two chapels, for Nonconformists and the Church of England, were last used in 1975. [2] Most of the buildings are now in a considerable state of dereliction. The Registrar's office and Sexton's Lodge are now privately owned. [2]
The cemetery contains the war graves of 222 Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars, [4] as well as one of a Russian Navy officer of World War I. [5] Other interments include James Taylor Cochran, who built the Resurgam ; Sir William Jackson; Arthur Thomas Doodson; Mary Ann Mercer; Isaac Roberts; [1] and Edmund Knight and Hugh Singleton, both in turn Roman Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury. [6]
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