Denton Burn, West Road, cemetery and crematorium

Denton Burn, West Road, cemetery and crematorium

HER Number
13237
District
Newcastle
Site Name
Denton Burn, West Road, cemetery and crematorium
Place
Denton Burn
Map Sheet
NZ26SW
Class
Religious Ritual and Funerary
Site Type: Broad
Crematorium
Site Type: Specific
Crematorium
General Period
20TH CENTURY
Specific Period
Mid 20th Century 1933 to 1966
Form of Evidence
Extant Building
Description
Opened in October 1934 at a cost of nearly £54,000. The architect was J.J. Hill. It was supposedly the only crematorium between Edinburgh and Darlington and was meant to solve Newcastle's burial problems. The cemetery includes the 1939-45 war memorial (HER 10961 and 11930) with around 40 headstones. There is an area for Muslim burials in the south-west part of the cemetery. The crematorium includes the loggia with memorial tablets fixed to the walls, a Garden of Remembrance for scattered ashes and a room with a Book of Remembrance. The first official cremation took place at Woking Crematorium in 1885. Until 1932 less than 1% of deaths were followed by cremation. In 1991 the figure was 71%.
Easting
420740
Northing
565360
Grid Reference
NZ420740565360
Sources
Alan Morgan, 2004, Beyond the Grave - Exploring Newcastle's Burial Grounds, pages 120-121; Hilary J Grainger, 2005, Death Redesigned, pp 459-60; National Monuments Record Monument No. 1528449