Description

The Churchyards & Cemeteries of Urmston, Flixton & Davyhulme

The history of churchyards and cemeteries is a fascinating study and here Michael Billington takes a look at the four burial grounds in the area; St Michael’s Churchyard in Flixton, St Catherine’s Churchyard in Barton-upon-Irwell, Urmston Cemetery and the Jewish cemetery in Urmston.

The book looks at the history of the burial grounds, who is buried there and the different styles of memorials; ledgers, table tombs, chest tombs, coped stones, obelisks, plinths, gothic revival memorials, celtic crosses, memorials incorporating statuary and even memorials in the art-deco style.

There are the the memorials to the powerful and wealthy such as the mausoleum of Marshall Stevens, but also the graves of the common man such as vicars, sextons, churchwardens, architects, pub landlords, policemen and even a servant from Davyhulme Hall. Then there are the poignant paupers’ graves and the tragic communal graves of very young children who, in the nineteenth century, died in vast numbers of diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough and influenza.

Also covered in this book are the three cenotaphs in the area commemorating those who died in the two world wars. Also covered are the stained glass windows and plaques in St Michael’s, Flixton and St Clement’s, Urmston.