Canwick Road cemetery’s chapels
Andrew Walker and Arthur Ward of the Survey of Lincoln consider two Victorian buildings, now in very poor condition, in one of the city’s cemeteries.
Today, at the southern end of Canwick Road ‘Old’ Cemetery, the condition of a Grade II-listed building, containing both an Anglican and Nonconformist memorial chapel, continues to deteriorate, and this handsome structure is surrounded by unsightly fencing and ‘keep out’ signs.
The now-neglected structure had previously been regarded as the pride of the city and, it was claimed, that these impressive chapels, designed by Lincoln-based architect Michael Drury, would be adopted as models for cemetery chapels elsewhere.
On Friday 26 October 1855, a procession including 2000 children walked from the Guildhall to the Canwick Road cemetery site, marking its official opening. This new facility was one of four Lincoln cemeteries dating from the mid-nineteenth century and operated by burial boards.
These new burial sites replaced the city’s hopelessly inadequate and overcrowded churchyards, where the contents of shallow graves were not infrequently being exposed, and the stench of decaying bodies was a regular cause of complaint.
During the Canwick Road cemetery opening event, the first stone of the Anglican chapel was laid by Richard Carline, chairman of the burial board. By 14 March 1856, the Stamford Mercury was reporting favourably on the progress undertaken on the two new chapels in the cemetery grounds, which it described as of ‘picturesque appearance’ and ‘are marked by rich design and skilled workmanship.
When finished, with the addition of the tower and spire, they will prove creditable to the discrimination of the burial board and the genius of the architect (Mr. M. Drury).’
The two chapels were designed in the Gothic Revival style, which was particularly fashionable in the mid-nineteenth century. They were linked by a lofty, arched open carriage-way.
Although both were designed in the same architectural manner, built of the same material and similar sums of money were spent on each, they were markedly different, as the Stamford Mercury noted on 1 August 1856. Of the Nonconformist building, the paper commented, it is:
an octagonal structure, lighted by three handsome four-light windows: on the exterior, these windows have gables over them; in the interior, the woodwork or the gable roofs intersect those of the main octagonal roof with a happy effect; but the crowning feature of the chapel is the lantern, which is suspended in the centre. This lantern is a component part of the roof, every main timber in it being necessary to a firm and scientific construction.
The Anglican chapel was described as follows:
Perhaps the most striking feature of the front is the large end window … Although this front be most prominent, yet the other [windows] have been completed with the same care and finish, showing an evident wish to make all points of view equally satisfactory …
Particular emphasis was placed in the report upon the Anglican chapel’s ‘very handsome chancel arch’ and its tower with staircase, placed ‘to give access to the belfry’, ensuring that it was taller than its Nonconformist counterpart.
Despite attempts to secure a new use, the condition of these impressive and significant cemetery chapel buildings continue to deteriorate. It is hoped that they can be revived in the near future.
A longer version of this article can be found in The Survey of Lincoln’s book, Lincoln’s Burial Grounds: Commemorating the City’s Dead, which is available, priced £9.50, at Jews’ Court Bookshop, Steep Hill, and Lindum Books, Bailgate. For more information on The Survey of Lincoln see www.thesurveyoflincoln.co.uk.
