| Summary : City Road Cemetery is a public cemetery opened in 1881 by the Sheffield Township Burial Board. It was designed by local architects Messrs M E Hadfield and Son. Originally known as the Sheffield Township Burial Ground or Intake Cemetery (City Road was formerly called Intake Road), it has separate Church of England, Nonconformist and Roman Catholic burial grounds. It was designed with an extensive range of buildings including a gateway, lodges, offices, boardroom and Church of England and Nonconformist chapels. The Church of England burial ground was consecrated by the Archbishop of York on 28th March 1881, and the Roman Catholic burial ground was consecrated by Bishop Cornthwaite on 9th June 1881. In 1889 plans by Charles Hadfield, son of M E Hadfield, were approved for the construction of a Catholic chapel. Commissioned by the Duke of Norfolk, St Michael's Chapel was consecrated on 11th October 1900. In the same year the cemetery was taken over by Sheffield City Council and following this became known as City Road Cemetery. In 1903 Charles Hadfield and his son Charles Matthew Hadfield designed a new crematorium to be built as an annexe to the Nonconformist chapel. The crematorium was officially opened by the Lord Mayor on 5th April 1905. The cemetery was extended to the south-east in 1935. Additional extensions and a chapel were built to the crematorium in the mid 20th century and the Church of England chapel was demolished in 1982. The cemetery contains a war memorial designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and a Belgian War Memorial commemorating Belgian soldiers and refugees who died in Sheffield during the First World War, both erected in circa 1920. |
More information : A public cemetery opened in 1881 by the Sheffield Township Burial Board, designed by the Sheffield architectural practice of Messrs M E Hadfield and Son.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
As early as 1873 Sheffield Township Burial Board began planning a burial ground on 49 acres (19.8ha) of agricultural land in the Sheffield Park district of the town. In 1877, visits to Birmingham Cemetery, Whitton (qv) and Anfield Cemetery, Liverpool (qv) may have informed decisions made regarding the laying out and running of the cemetery. In 1878 the land was purchased from the fifteenth Duke of Norfolk for £13,625 and plans for the extensive range of buildings, including Church of England and Nonconformist chapels, gateway, offices, boardroom, and lodges were prepared by the Board's appointed architects and surveyors, the local firm of Messrs M E Hadfield (1812-85) and Son. A requirement of the purchase was that a proportion of the ground would also be allocated for Roman Catholic burial, with the erection of a requisite chapel. A plan of 1878 of the cemetery, known then as Sheffield Township Burial Ground or Intake Cemetery, shows 20 acres (8.1ha) allocated for Church of England use and 13 acres (5.3ha) for Nonconformist use, with access to these portions from Intake Road, later to become City Road. The 7 acres (2.8ha) of land allocated for Roman Catholic burial were located in the north-west corner and in 1880 tenders were invited for the formation of roads and footways, the erection of an entrance lodge off what was then Manor Road, a waiting room and closets, and to provide a direct entrance to the Roman Catholic section. Some 9 acres (3.6ha) of land in the north-east corner was shown as 'unappropriated', to be used for future extension (Sheffield Burial Board Minute Book 1877-80). On 28 March 1881, the Archbishop of York consecrated the Church of England portion, and, following the opening of the cemetery on 25 May, the first burial took place on 27 May (Welsh 1975). On 9 June 1881 the portion allocated for Catholic use was consecrated by Bishop Cornthwaite and on 18 May 1899, the Board gave approval to plans for a proposed Catholic chapel, commissioned from Charles Hadfield, son of M E Hadfield, by the Duke of Norfolk (Evinson 1995). St Michael's Chapel was consecrated on 11 October 1900. In the same year the cemetery was taken over by Sheffield City Council, and following this became known as City Road Cemetery. In 1903 C and C M Hadfield were engaged by the council to prepare designs for a crematorium, as an annexe to the existing Nonconformist chapel. On 5 April 1905, the crematorium was officially opened by the Lord Mayor, with the first cremation on 24 April 1905 (150 years of Architectural Drawings, 1984). The cemetery was extended into the area originally marked 'unappropriated', to the south-east, by 1935 (OS). An additional chapel and extensions were built (mid-C20) at the north side of the crematorium and in 1982 the original Church of England chapel was demolished. The cemetery is currently (2002) managed by Sheffield City Council. (1-2) |