Introduction
For many centuries it was the custom for communities to bury their dead near to their parish church, in the churchyard or graveyard.
However, the early years of the nineteenth century saw very large movements of population from the rural countryside into the cities, as the Industrial Revolution took hold. The churchyards in city parishes quickly became so full that they began to be the cause of public nuisance. The presence of so many corpses in such close proximity to the living population meant that their surroundings became unhealthy and in some cases, overflowing graveyards became the cause of cholera outbreaks.
Leicester had been an important trading centre for many years; even before the construction of a rail and canal network led to the development of its industrial importance in engineering, shoemaking and hosiery. Even before Leicester became a county borough in 1889, the town leaders realised that the shortage of burial spaces was acute and that they must take action. They followed the example set by many other local authorities and created four municipal cemeteries; Welford Road (1847), Belgrave (1881), Gilroes (1902) and Saffron Hill (1929).
Origins
In the 19th century the parish of Belgrave consisted of Belgrave, Birstall, and South Thurmaston. In 1851 the population was 1444; in 1871 it had increased to 2049, and in 1881 to 7285.
The Belgrave Burial Board was set up in the mid-1850s under the chairmanship of the vicar of St Peters Church, the Reverend Frederick Henry Richardson MA. The Board was instructed to find a suitable piece of land within the parish and to create a new cemetery to replace the overcrowded churchyard of St Peter’s Church. Several plots of land were surveyed and all but one were, for various reasons, considered unsuitable. Eventually the Burial Board chose a site at the foot of Birstall Hill – the current site, and arrangements were made to purchase the five acre site from the Vicar of Sileby, for the sum of £3000.
Work Commences
In the summer of 1880 contractors were invited to tender for the work of enclosing, laying out and draining the cemetery site, and for the construction of a Sexton’s Lodge.
The Board’s plans also included the building of a mortuary and chapel, but the religious prejudices of the day complicated their deliberations – should there be one chapel or two? The Board and, it has to be said, the residents of Belgrave were divided; should there be one chapel for the use of all denominations, or should there be one for the Established Church (the Church of England) and a second chapel for the use of Non-conformists or those of no religion?
After much heated debate in meetings and the local press, the Board finally decided to build two chapels, and in the Spring of 1881 tenders went out for their construction.
Even the layout of the cemetery grounds was the subject of religious debate. The cemetery land was to be divided into two separate areas, for consecrated and non-consecrated burials. And the decision about which was which was decided in the time-honoured manner of drawing tickets out of a hat!
The Cemetery Today
Visitors to Belgrave Cemetery will notice that both chapels and the mortuary have vanished, demolished in the 1960s. They have been replaced by a toilet block; useful but hardly decorative. The only remaining original structure is the Lodge House at the entrance (now a private residence). The cemetery was approached originally along an avenue, lined with chestnut trees, leading directly from what is now the A6 Loughborough Road. The modern entrance on Red Hill Way is a much later addition; and, it has to be said, nowhere near so attractive.
Facts & Figures
Belgrave Cemetery is the smallest municipal cemetery in Leicester, just over five acres, and while it is no longer possible to purchase a grave at the site, it is still a working cemetery with about 4,500 burial plots. The cemetery contains the remains of more than 15,000 individuals.
Monuments & Their Symbolism
Religion was very important in the 19th century and Victorians were keen to take their status with them into the next life. The social standing of the deceased was often reflected in the grandeur of their memorials and in the proud boast of their epitaphs.
Belgrave Cemetery contains some of the finest examples of the Victorian and Edwardian stonemasons’ art. Victorian monuments are a great source of information, as many people trace their family tree by them. Epitaphs one hundred years ago were produced in great numbers and the highest standard of letter carving was reached.
