160th Birthday of Spital Cemetery at Chesterfield

About

160 years ago on 19th August 1857 Spital Cemetery was opened by the Bishop of Lichfield. Friends of Spital Cemetery welcome you to share its 160th birthday.

Friends of Spital Cemetery is a voluntary group dedicated to the preservation, conservation and restoration of this fine Victorian Garden Cemetery for the public benefit, and to explore how it can best serve the local community to ensure it remains for future generations to enjoy and appreciate.

To commemorate this 160th anniversary of the opening of the Cemetery there will be stalls in St Leonard's Mission Room, Valley Road, S41 0HQ advertising the work of local conservation, garden and history groups. Refreshments will also be available. This will be held from 11am until 5pm. Qdos Community Choir will also be singing.

In the cemetery itself there will be information boards.

Spital Cemetery is the oldest public cemetery in Chesterfield and the second oldest in Derbyshire after Derby itself. George Bidlake (1829/30 – 1892) and Henry Lovatt of Wolverhampton were the architects who were chosen for the design of the Chapels and Francis Calvert Gillett (1824 – 1896) laid out the grounds. He will have followed the fashion at the time to make a place resembling a garden (Eden) with trees and winding paths to give comfort to people mourning their dead.

In the evening at St Leonard's Church there will be a talk at 7pm – 9pm (doors open at 6.30pm) by Professor Stevens Curl on the subject of: 'Transformations – Landscape Garden to Garden Cemetery'. Professor Steven Curls has established an international reputation for scholarship and thorough investigation into little known fields such as this one - 'The Garden Cemetery Movement'. Expect to be entertained and informed.

The talk is entrance by ticket only. Tickets are available from Liz Cook Acting Chair, FoSC. Please send a cheque to Friends of Spital Cemetery for £10.00 to 10 Alexandra Road East, Chesterfield, S41 0HF. Please enclose a s.a.e.