Burnley Cemetery

Located about three miles to the south-west of Burnley town centre, the cemetery is rectangular, widening out on its western edge where it sits above the Green Brook valley with views across the countryside to Hameldon Hill. From the entrance at Rossendale Road, the cemetery's eastern edge, the land is relatively flat but begins to slope down to the west beyond the chapel. It levels again, sloping uphill until it reaches the edge of the original 1856 cemetery where it slopes more steeply downhill to the west and south.

The original 1856 cemetery, in the western part of the site, was accessed from Cemetery Lane through an archway alongside a lodge. The original layout, of main serpentine drives leading to the three mortuary chapels and minor paths leading to burial areas within each denominational area, remains. The lodge and archway remain although the lodge is now a private house and the archway was repositioned further eastwards as part of the 1923 extension and alterations. All three mortuary chapels have been lost and have been replaced, on a site nearer the Rossendale Road entrance, by an inter-denominational chapel built in 1923.

The extensions to the original cemetery have a rectilinear layout and the 1923 extension saw the introduction of a new entrance off Rossendale Road, the creation of a new lodge (now Cemetery Offices), the inter-denominational chapel and a new road system within the cemetery. All the buildings are of stone, the traditional local building material.

Much of the original planting remains, complemented with additions over time. The planting is mainly deciduous and along the boundaries, drives and pathways. There are evergreen trees and shrubs dotted throughout the site and close to the Rossendale Road entrance, war memorial and chapel.

The cemetery site is enclosed by stone walls and metal railings. The southern boundary (now Billington Road) and the northern boundary (Cemetery Lane) of the original cemetery site have high stone walls and the western boundary is of stone walls of varying heights, some topped with metal railings. A newspaper report of a Committee visit to the cemetery under construction in January 1856 states 'fence walls so arranged that they do not conceal the contiguous scenery where it is superior'. The 1923 extension boundary to the north, south and east are of metal railings, in some places on top of a low stone wall.

Close to the 1923 entrance there is a World War 1 Memorial. It was created in 1924 and includes an Imperial War Graves Commission Cross of Sacrifice designed by the architect Reginald Blomfield with a screen behind it showing the names of 174 servicemen buried in the cemetery between 1914 and 1924. There are also memorials to remember local people killed in the Hapton Valley pit disaster in 1962 and in a Spanish air disaster close to Barcelona airport in 1970. The gravestone memorials throughout the cemetery reflect the style of their era. Architecturally the most interesting are within the original cemetery although many may be to standard designs of the period. The graves of many of the prominent people who helped to shape the development of Burnley in the 19th century can be found. One unique memorial is that to Thomas Healey (1783-1858), 'The Father of Burnley Music'. It is topped by a sculpture of musical instruments and was created in 1872, funded by the choirs and musical societies of the district. An article in the Burnley Advertiser of 1872 states that the monument 'is original and has been designed and executed by W. Hargreaves excepting the rail which was made by Mr. Ashworth of Burnley'.

The Crematorium site with its own parkland and entrance from Accrington Road was opened in 1958. It adjoins the northern boundary of the cemetery along its western end and slopes downhill relatively steeply to the north with the crematorium sitting on a plateau on the south east of the site. There is pedestrian and vehicular access between the cemetery and crematorium. The landscaping is mainly informal with pathways meandering through light woodland, including commemorative trees. The Crematorium building was designed by Taylor, Young and Partners of Manchester. Hilary J. Grainger in Death Redesigned: British Crematoria: History, architecture and landcape describes it as with '.... strong classical simplicity to the whole design. Four simple square pillars frame the cloister at the rear and there is certain purity in the pyramidal roofed entrance hall. The chapel is entered through a magnificent, monumental doorway with canopy supported by two square pillars with flat lintel with a Classical urn at each side'.