St Andrew's Cemetery, Jesmond (also known as St Andrew's and Jesmond Cemetery)

The following is from the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. For the most up-to-date Register entry, please visit The National Heritage List for England (NHLE):

A public cemetery laid out in 1855-7 with designs for buildings and layout by Middleton and Pritchett, possibly modified by Pritchett.

Location, Area, Boundaries, Landform and Setting

The c 4.1ha cemetery is located at Jesmond and is c 1.5 km north of Newcastle upon Tyne city centre. The roughly rectangular site adjoins Tankerville Terrace (formerly an unnamed track, OS c 1861) to the east, a school to the south, and a further school and residential properties on Fairfield Road to the north. All of these boundaries are marked by c 1.5 m high random-stone walls with splayed ashlar copings. To the west the site adjoins allotment gardens to the north of the approach drive and a school playing field to the south of the drive. The western boundary is marked by a low stone wall topped by mid-C19 railings, these divided by square stone piers with low, stepped pyramidal caps. All boundaries are partially lined with mature trees with the eastern and western boundaries also partially lined with evergreen shrubs.

Ground within the cemetery is generally level. The surrounding area to the north, east, and south is largely residential with housing generally dating from the late-C19. Some 160m west of the cemetery is the Great North Road, leading north-north-west and beyond this, to the west, is the large open space of Town Moor.

Entrances and Approaches

The principal entrance lies at the centre of the western boundary with a c 8 m wide approach drive leading east-north-east for 160 m from the Great North Road where the junction is marked by a pair of low stone piers. The square piers with gabled caps have incised inscriptions, now (2002) worn, with that to the south reading 'St Andrew's and Jesmond Cemetery'. To the east the approach drive terminates at a semicircular carriage turn immediately west of an entrance lodge. At the head of the drive the lodge incorporates a porte-cochère with low Tudor-style arches with drip moulds which gives access into the cemetery.

The lodge is in random stone with ashlar dressings below steep, blue fish-scale slated gable roofs. A tall first-floor gable above the porte-cochère is adjoined to the north by a slightly larger gable wing, with canted ground-floor bays to the west elevation, and to the south by a one and a half-storey wing with low eaves and small first-floor dormers. The porte-cochère is axial with a main drive dividing the cemetery from west to east. The arrangement of the approach drive and entrance lodge areas indicated on the c 1861 OS map. The design of the lodge dates from 1855 and is by Middleton and Pritchett with possible later amendment by Pritchett.

A second entrance at the centre of the eastern boundary with Tankerville Terrace is also axial with the main drive. This entrance is slightly set back from the road, is flanked by quadrant returns in the boundary wall, and is marked by C19 wrought-iron gates flanked by stone piers with gabled caps. This entrance is not indicated on the 1861 OS map and appears to be a later C19 addition.

At the centre of the northern boundary is a service access from the head of Brentwood Avenue. This entrance is marked by late-C20 gates and is an addition of similar date.

Principal Buildings

Some 70 m east of the principal entrance two cross-axial paths lead off the main drive to north and south forming approaches to the Nonconformist and Church of England chapels respectively. The chapels are sited 75 m apart and this arrangement is very probably an amendment of the original design proposal resulting from the objection of the Bishop of Durham. The small Gothic-style chapels, of similar design, are in random stone with ashlar dressings below blue fish-scale slate roofs and each has a gabled entrance porch and a short tower. The nave of the northern chapel is orientated north/south and that of the southern chapel east/west. The design of the chapels dates from 1855 and is by Middleton and Pritchett with possible later amendment by Pritchett. The towers may have been altered at a later date with top sections removed.

Other Land

From the principal entrance an axial, partially tree-lined main drive leads c 250 m eastwards to the entrance from Tankerville Terrace thus dividing the cemetery from east to west. From each of these entrances a pair of paths lead off north and south to form a perimeter circuit. Within this circuit the burial ground is divided, c 130 m east of the principal entrance, by a formal cross-axial path and, c 70m east of the principal entrance, by the cross-axial chapel approaches. From each of the chapels a pair of informal paths leads to junctions with the perimeter path. The c 1861 OS map indicates the main axial drive, cross-axial approaches to the chapels, and a gently winding perimeter circuit.

The cemetery contains a number of mature trees, many of which appear to be remnants of trees lining the main drives and boundaries, a feature indicated on the early OS map. The cemetery contains a variety of monuments, including Celtic crosses and tall obelisks. Of particular note, in the south-west corner of the cemetery, is the large canopied Barawitzka memorial with Egyptian-style columns dating from c 1936.

Maps

• OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1864
• OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published c 1861
• Archival items
• St Andrew's and Jesmond Burial Board Minutes 1853-77, vol 1 (BB/AJ/1/1) (Tyne and Wear Archive Service)

Reasons for Designation

St Andrew's Cemetery is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

• An early High Victorian (1855-57) public cemetery for a provincial city in formal grid-pattern style.
• Designs for buildings and layout were provided by Middleton and James Pigott Pritchett, possibly modified by Pritchett.
• The Gothic chapels form two focal points in the design to enliven a level site.
• Social interest is expressed in a variety of C19 monuments, most of which are relatively modest.
• It is one of the first four mid-C19 Burial Board cemeteries formed in Newcastle upon Tyne. The others are St John's (qv) (Johnstone and Knowles 1856-7), All Saints', Jesmond (Benjamin and John Green 1857), and St Nicholas' (Archibald Dunn 1858). Pritchett designed the buildings and layout at York Cemetery (qv) in 1836-7, and Darlington 1856-58, (qv) and for a time worked in partnership with his son-in-law, John Middleton. From the mid 1850s his practice, Pritchett and Sons, became established nationally in the field of public cemetery design.
• Although most the planting has gone, the cemetery layout and structures survive intact.

Description written: December 2002

Edited: December 2009