Lister Lane Cemetery, Halifax



Contents:

General Points

The Cemetery in Lister Lane, Halifax – known as

- was a commercial Cemetery established in 1836 by the Halifax General Cemetery Company.

It was built well away from the town centre, just beyond Aked's Road, the town's western boundary, on approximately 3 acres of land – owned by Joseph and George Whitely – located between Gibbet Lane and Lister Lane.

The construction of the burial ground, Chapel, and Lodge cost around £1,845.

The total cost of the project – £2,417 – was raised by subscription shares.

It opened on 2nd October 1841, and is the oldest public Cemetery in the town.

The Cemetery had its own monumental mason's yard. This closed in the mid-20th century and was sold off.

With the opening of Stoney Royd Cemetery in 1863, the business at Lister Lane Cemetery began to decline.

The Cemetery was acquired by Halifax County Borough Council [July 1952].

Kathleen Mary Ratkowski was the last interment [6th May 1963] before Lister Lane Cemetery was closed for burials.

The Cemetery closed in 1965.

Part of the eastern side of the Cemetery was cleared as the grounds were improved in the 1980s.

The Friends of Lister Lane Cemetery was formed in 1996 to preserve and maintain the Cemetery as an historic site and a nature reserve. The Group hopes to repair the delapidated mortuary chapel.

The Cemetery is open to the public on the second Sunday of each month, and can be visited at other times by appointment. It has been included on the list of sites which are open to the public on Heritage Open Days.

In 200?, it was added to the English Heritage register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

In May 2003, there was a proposal to use it as a Cemetery for the Muslim community – someone must have thought that there was room for even more in the burial ground.

In September 2015, because it is an early one of its type and includes many important people from Victorian times, the Cemetery was made a member of the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe, alongside

Other links


See William Bull, James Day, James Heaps, Monumental Works, Halifax and Stories From the Graves


Thanks to Ann & Stuart Wilkinson and the Friends of Lister Lane Cemetery for help with photographs and the epitaphs on the gravestones in the Cemetery
 



© Malcolm Bull 2023
Revised 13:27 / 29th September 2023 / 6637

Page Ref: MML1358

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