Record Details

NHER Number:33509
Type of record:Monument
Name:Hardwick Road Cemetery

Summary

The cemetery was created in 1850, a comparatively early date for cemeteries of this type. Two chapels were built in 1856 but were demolished in 1956 and 1972. The cemetery was designed to look like a public park and contains a number of impressive monuments. It is significant as a relatively early example of urban cemetery design.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TF 6250 1898
Map Sheet:TF61NW
Parish:KING’S LYNN, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Norfolk Historic Gardens Survey grade two-star (regional importance), see (S1).
Deeds for cemetery purchased in 1850, a very early date, predating the 1852 Burials Act. Three areas, for St Margaret's, Anglicans generally and Nonconformists. Ground fenced 1855. Twin flint lodges connected by arch planned, it was proposed to pull down South Lynn Chapel and use the materials (where was this?). Chapels, Reception and Curators House 1856, plus flint wall. 1864, Public Walks Committee asked to advise on layout - important reference. Designed to resemble a public park. 1870s some planting removed for further burials, curator's wife compensated for loss of roses. Now closed; chapels demolished in 1956 and 1972. Impressive monuments, walls, some trees remain. 1881 extension to south of road not included in survey.
See (S1) for full details.
E. Rose (NLA) 11 March 1998.

However, the survey does note that the walls and boundaries of the extension south of the road resemble the original boundaries and may have been made at that time, before the actual layout of the extension. In 2004 the row of cupressus trees along the road side was felled.
E. Rose (NLA), 27 January 2004.

The south extension also contains some very important monuments such as that to Frederick Savage the engineer.
E. Rose (NLA), 26 November 2004.

The 'South Lynn Chapel' mentioned above was that of a cemetery formerly on this site, demolished when the Hardwick cemetery was laid out.
E. Rose (NLA), 30 November 2004.

(S2) reports that in 2006 the footprint of the Anglican chapel was perfectly revealed as a parch mark. (S2) states that it was built in 1855 by Aicken and Capes and was identical to one at Kingston, Surrey, although (S2) gives the date of demolition as 1977.
E. Rose (NLA), 23 August 2006.

July 2008. Trial trenching on foundations of chapels.
Details to come.
See (S3)
A. Cattermole (NLA), 15 August 2008.

July 2008.
Proposal to build an interpretation centre on site, refurbish some monuments and reinstate paths.
See (S3)
H. White, (NLA), 5 February 2009

August 2009.
York stone from the demolished chapel has been recovered.
See (S3) for details
H. White, (NLA), 23 September 2009

April 2010.
A database of the graves within the cemetery has been compiled.
See (S4) for further details.
H. White, (NLA), 22 April 2010.

(S5) provides a detailed history of this cemetery, some of which contradicts information presented above. According to (S5) a plot of ten acres on the north side of Hardwick Road was acquired by the parish of All Saints’ towards the end of 1849 as a place for interdenominational burial with a chapel designed of William Brown of King’s Lynn. All Saints’ Cemetery was transferred to the Borough Council of King’s Lynn by Order in Council dated 1st May 1855 at which time the town’s churchyards were closed to further burial. On 14th July 1855 the King’s Lynn Burial Board asked Aickin and Capes of London to provide designs for two new chapels – one for Anglicans the other for non-conformists – together with a mortuary, bier-house, lodge, carriageways and paths. William Brown’s 1850 chapel was demolished, the materials going to build the new ones. In December 1855 Aickin and Capes furnished the Board with a list of trees and shrubs to mark the divide between the consecrated and un-consecrated parts of the cemetery.
The cemetery was consecrated on Monday 26th May 1856 by the Rt. Rev’d Bishop Spenser, the former Bishop of Madras. An account of the event appeared in the King’s Lynn Advertiser of Monday 26th May 1856.
During the Second World War the chapels ceased to be maintained and in the mid-1960s a programme of kerbstone and railing removal began, to facilitate less labour-intensive maintenance. Hardwick Road Cemetery was closed to further burials on 30th September 1971 and the chapels were demolished in February 1972.
By the 31st December 2000 the recorded number of graves in the northern and southern sections of Hardwick Road Cemetery stood at 22,777.
The establishment of Hardwick Road Cemetery in 1849 marks it out as one of the first parochial cemeteries in Great Britain, anticipating the Burial (Beyond the Metropolis) Act of 1854 by five years. It is an important early example of a Victorian cemetery.
See (S5) and related webpages for further information.
Historic maps of King's Lynn show the Anglican chapel to the north and the non-conformist chapel to the south.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 3 February 2020.

The precursor to this cemetery was the 'New Burial Ground' at St James' End (NHER 63573), which had opened in 1805.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 28 February 2020.

Monument Types

  • CEMETERY (19th Century to 21st Century - 1850 AD to 2050 AD)
  • CHAPEL (19th Century - 1850 AD to 1855 AD)
  • CHAPEL (19th Century to Late 20th Century - 1856 AD to 1972 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Unpublished Document: Taigel, A. 1997. Norfolk Gardens Trust: Town Gardens Survey - Volume One. Norfolk Gardens Trust.
<S2>*Verbal Communication: Julian Litten, Friends of cemetery. 2006. [unknown]. 23 August.
<S3>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2008. [Articles on a proposed lottery funding bid for building a replica chapel at Hardwick Cemetery].
<S4>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2010. New database guide to graves. 21 April.
<S5>Website: The Friends of Hardwick Road Cemetery. 2020. A Short History of Hardwick Road Cemetery, King's Lynn. http://www.hardwickroadcemetery.co.uk/history/. 3 February 2020.

Related records

63545Related to: Hardwick Road Cemetery extension (Monument)

Find out more...

Norfolk County Council logo Heritage Lottery Fund logo

Powered by HBSMR-web and the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd, and mojoPortal CMS
© 2007 - 2025 Norfolk Historic Environment Service