Overleigh Cemetery

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Overleigh Cemetery
Overleigh Cemetery C19 engraving.jpg
Overleigh Cemetery in 1860
Overleigh Cemetery
Details
Established1850
Location
Chester CH4 7HW
CountryEngland
Coordinates 53°10′55″N2°53′42″W / 53.18194°N 2.89500°W / 53.18194; -2.89500
StyleVictorian picturesque
Owned byCheshire West and Chester Council
Find a Grave Overleigh Cemetery
Original entrance to Overleigh Cemetery Old Overleigh Cemetery - Entrance Gates - geograph.org.uk - 592698.jpg
Original entrance to Overleigh Cemetery

Overleigh Cemetery is a large municipal burial ground adjacent to the approaches to Grosvenor Bridge on the south side of the River Dee in Chester, Cheshire, England. The cemetery was created in the mid-19th century by a private company but was taken into public ownership in the 1930s. The original part of the cemetery is listed at Grade II in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. [1] Since 2009, it has been owned and managed by the unitary authority Cheshire West and Chester.

Contents

History

The original part of Overleigh Cemetery occupies about 11.5 acres (4.7 ha) OverleighCemeteryChesterXmas2017f.jpg
The original part of Overleigh Cemetery occupies about 11.5 acres (4.7 ha)

The cemetery was laid out between 1848 and 1850 by T. M. Penson. This original part of the cemetery to the north of Overleigh Road is described by the authors of the Buildings of England series as having been "highly romantic", and as still being "eminently picturesque". [2] Overleigh Cemetery was a private development by the Chester General Cemetery Company; it was consecrated on 12 November 1850 by the Bishop of Chester; in 1875 it contained a lake with three islands, two chapels, two lodges, paths and trees, and a house for the chaplain. It was extended to the south in 1879 (this part is not included in the listing). The south part of the cemetery is described as being "prosaic". [2] In 1930 the cemetery came into the ownership of Chester City Council, and it was further extended to the south during the 20th century. [1] Penson's lake, lodges and chapels are no longer present. The West Chapel in the south part of the cemetery was built in 1904 and is Grade II listed. [3] It fell into disuse and is now the Greek Orthodox Church of St Barbara the Great Martyr. [4]

Notable structures

The gates and gate piers designed by Penson at the original entrance to the cemetery are still present, and are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. [5] Also listed at Grade II is a bridge over the drive in the north section of the cemetery, which was designed by Penson. [6] In the north part of the cemetery, and listed at Grade II, are the following monuments: to John Graham, Bishop of Chester who died in 1865, [7] to William Makepeace Thackeray (1769–1849), uncle of the novelist of same name, [8] to U Larsing, a missionary to Bengal, who died in 1863, [9] to Revd Richard Knill, who died in 1857, and his wife, who died in 1870, [10] to Samuel Venables, master of Chester Bluecoat School, who died in 1848, [11] to William Brown of Browns of Chester, who died in 1852, [12] and to Henry Raikes, Chancellor of the diocese of Chester (designed by Penson, with an effigy by Thomas Earp). [13] In the south part of the cemetery is a monument to Frederick Coplestone who died in 1932. It dates from 1934, was designed and carved by Eric Gill, and is listed at Grade II*. [2] [14] Also in the south part of the cemetery, and listed at Grade II, are the west chapel, [15] and a cenotaph, in form of a Cross of Sacrifice, to those who died in the First World War and are buried in the cemetery. [16]

The chapel is currently used by the Greek Orthodox Community of St. Barbara. [17]

Another notable gravestone in the cemetery, although not listed, exists to Edward Langtry, (estranged first husband of actress Lily Langtry), who died in a local lunatic asylum in 1897. [18] Also buried in the cemetery and without listed gravestone is the writer Georgina Frederica Jackson, a writer and teacher who compiled a glossary of Shropshire dialect, who died in 1895. [19]

Another notable gravestone in the cemetery, with an epitaph "Far From The Bones Of His Ancestors" in both English and Japanese, is that of the Japanese actor Ishiao Ishimura, one of the acting team "The Mikado Family", who died on stage in December 1915 in the Royalty Theatre in Chester when he fell and broke his neck. [20]

Graves

Frederik Copelston Memorial Frederik Copelstone Memorial.jpg
Frederik Copelston Memorial

The Overleigh Cemetery database lists details of over 60,000 burials. [21] Photographs of some of the more notable memorials are given on the Chester Walls website. [22] The cemetery contains the graves of 197 Commonwealth service personnel, 127 from the First World War (about half of them burials from local hospitals,) and 69 from the Second. Apart from a small war graves plot containing 32 graves from both wars, the graves are dispersed throughout the cemetery. [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 Historic England, "Overleigh Road Cemetery, Chester (1001607)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. 1 2 3 Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 283, ISBN   978-0300170436
  3. ↑ Historic England, "West chapel in south part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375895)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  4. ↑ "The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Barbara the Great Martyr" . Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. ↑ Historic England, "Gates and gate piers to old (north) part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375838)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  6. ↑ Historic England, "Bridge over Drive, in north part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375886)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  7. ↑ Historic England, "Monument to Bishop John Graham in north part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375888)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  8. ↑ Historic England, "W M Thackeray cenotaph & Thackeray & Jones Tombs in N part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375894)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  9. ↑ Historic England, "Monument to U Larsing SE of Thackeray Cenotaph in Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375891)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  10. ↑ Historic England, "Monument to Richard Knill, S of U Larsing Monument in Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375889)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  11. ↑ Historic England, "Monument to Samuel Venables in north part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375890)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  12. ↑ Historic England, "Monument to W Brown in north part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375892)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  13. ↑ Historic England, "Tomb and monument to Henry Raikes in north part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375893)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  14. ↑ Historic England, "Coplestone Memorial, Overleigh New Cemetery, Chester (1350324)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  15. ↑ Historic England, "West chapel in south part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375895)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  16. ↑ Historic England, "Cenotaph in south part of Overleigh Cemetery, Chester (1375887)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 28 July 2012{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  17. ↑ "How to Find Us". Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  18. ↑ Picture with attached story.
  19. ↑ Baugh, George C. (2004). "Jackson, Georgina Frederica (1824–1895), writer on dialect" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59033. ISBN   978-0198614128 . Retrieved 4 October 2022.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  20. ↑ "History of the Wood Green Empire, Wood Green, N22". www.arthurlloyd.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  21. ↑ "Overleigh Cemetery Database" . Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  22. ↑ "Some Notable Memorials in the Overleigh Cemetery, Chester" . Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  23. ↑ Chester {Overleigh) Cemetery, Commonwealth War Graves Commission , retrieved 2 September 2013
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