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Flaybrick Memorial Gardens
Cemetery in Birkenhead, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Flaybrick Memorial Gardens is a memorial garden, formerly a municipal cemetery called Flaybrick Hill Cemetery, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The cemetery has been designated a conservation area by Wirral Borough Council, which owns the site.
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History
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In the 1840s, Joseph Paxton was approached to design a large municipal cemetery for the expanding township of Birkenhead, but because of a recession and a subsequent decrease in the population, the plan went no further.[2] By the 1860s, a boom made the provision of a new cemetery a priority. A competition was held for the design which was won by Edward Kemp,[2] a pupil of Paxton's and Curator of Birkenhead Park. Kemp was assisted by Edward Mills, a prominent Birkenhead surveyor from Hamilton Square, and Messrs Lucy and Littler, architects of Liverpool.[2] The general contractor was William Rimmer of Bidston Hall, with John Middlehurst of St. Helens the contractor for buildings.[3] The site chosen was Flaybrick Hill, a prominent location overlooked by Bidston Hill. Originally 16.5 acres (6.7 ha) were purchased, but by the 1890s the site was extended to 26 acres (11 ha).[2]
The cemetery was officially opened 30 May 1864 and named Birkenhead Cemetery, and the site originally had three separate denominational chapels.[2] The Roman Catholic chapel was demolished in 1971 and a memorial wall has been erected on its site. The remaining two chapels, for Nonconformists and the Church of England, were last used in 1975.[2] Most of the buildings are now in a considerable state of dereliction. The Registrar's office and Sexton's Lodge are now privately owned.[2]
The cemetery contains the war graves of 222 Commonwealth service personnel of both World Wars,[4] as well as one of a Russian Navy officer of World War I.[5] Other interments include James Taylor Cochran, who built the Resurgam; Sir William Jackson; Arthur Thomas Doodson; Mary Ann Mercer; Isaac Roberts;[1] and Edmund Knight and Hugh Singleton, both in turn Roman Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury.[6]
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Conservation area
The cemetery was designated as a conservation area in 1990.[7] In 1995, Flaybrick Cemetery was renamed Flaybrick Memorial Gardens and an arboretum was created. Mature specimen trees are prominent throughout the cemetery, including Cut-leaf Beech, Silver Lime, Caucasian Lime, London Plane and Monkey-puzzle.[7] A wildlife-friendly approach to the management of the Memorial Gardens is carried out by a designated ranger.
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