Editing Ford Park Cemetery

{{Short description|Cemetery in Plymouth, Devon}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox Cemetery
|name=Ford Park Cemetery
|image       = Ford Park Cemetery chapel, Plymouth.jpg
|imagesize   = 300px
|caption     = The Victorian chapel in the cemetery
|established =  1846
|country     =
|location    =  [[Plymouth]], Devon, England
|coordinates
 = {{coord|50|22|59|N|4|8|36|W|display=it}}
|type        =  public
|owner       =  Ford Park Cemetery Trust
|size        =  {{convert|34.5|acre|m2|adj=on}}
|graves      =  about 250,000
|website     =  [http://www.ford-park-cemetery.org/ Ford Park Cemetery Trust]
|findagraveid= 1974110
}}

'''Ford Park Cemetery''' is a {{convert|34.5|acre|m2|adj=on}} cemetery in central [[Plymouth]], England, established by the Plymouth, Stonehouse & Devonport Cemetery Company in 1846 and opened in 1848.<ref name="plymdat">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Cemeteries.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928034235/http://www.plymouthdata.info/CEMETERIES%20CREMATORIA.htm
|archive-date=28 September 2013
|title=Cemeteries and Crematoria|last=Moseley|first=Brian|orig-year=10 April 2008|date=26 September 2013|encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History|publisher=Plymouthdata|access-date=12 February 2015}}</ref> At the time it was outside the boundary of the [[Three Towns]] and was created to alleviate the overcrowding in the churchyards of the local parish churches.<ref name="plymdat" /> Its official name at the time of inception was The Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse Cemetery (renamed in 2000),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Moseley|first1=Brian|title=Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse Cemetery|url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Cemeteries%20Crematoria-Plymouth%20Devonport%20Stonehouse%20Cemetery.htm|website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History|access-date=12 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928050445/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Cemeteries%20Crematoria-Plymouth%20Devonport%20Stonehouse%20Cemetery.htm|archive-date=28 September 2013|date=1 September 2013}}</ref> although it is now seldom referred to by that title.

The cemetery was originally {{convert|18|acre|m2}} in size, but a further {{convert|16.5|acre|m2}} were added in 1875.<ref name="nfcf" /> It came into use during one of the largest outbreaks of [[cholera]] in the country and during its first year it saw over 400 burials related to that disease.<ref name="nfcf" /> During Victorian times it was the main cemetery for the Three Towns,<ref name="bbc_trail">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/outdoors/walks/plymouth_cemetary.shtml|title=Trail highlights Victorian past|date=15 April 2005|publisher=BBC Devon|access-date=27 August 2008}}</ref> and it is estimated that approximately a quarter of a million people are buried within its grounds.<ref>{{cite news|title=House sale is a grave undertaking|date=7 March 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6425949.stm|publisher=BBC|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref> The older burial records have been deposited with the [[Plymouth and West Devon Record Office]].

Among the more famous graves is that of the Reverend [[Robert Stephen Hawker]], the author of ''The Song of the Western Men''. As at November 2016 there are 769 war graves from the First World War, over 200 of which are in a dedicated naval plot; and 198 war graves of the Second World War (including an unidentified [[Royal Air Force|airman]]) are scattered throughout the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2086000|title=Ford Park Cemetery (formerly Plymouth Old Cemetery) (Pennycomequick)|publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|access-date=27 August 2008}}</ref> A [[Victoria Cross]] (VC) recipient of the [[Crimean War]], Captain [[Andrew Henry (VC)|Andrew Henry]], [[Royal Artillery]], is buried here, as is another VC recipient, of the [[Taiping Rebellion]], Quartermaster [[George Hinckley]], Royal Navy.<ref name=blvch>{{cite web|url=http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/devonshi.htm |title=Devonshire |access-date=2004-11-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041125092218/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/devonshi.htm |archive-date=25 November 2004 }} Burial Locations VC Holders, Devonshire.</ref>

The Victorian chapel building designed by [[John R. Hamilton (architect)|J. R. Hamilton]] and [[James Medland|J. M. Medland]]<ref name="nfcf" /> is [[Listed building|Grade II listed]],<ref name="Herald">{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/push-Ford-Park-Cemetery-funding/article-280957-detail/article.html |title=Last push for Ford Park Cemetery funding |date=20 August 2008 |work=The Herald |publisher=this is Plymouth.co.uk |access-date=27 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505064448/http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/push-Ford-Park-Cemetery-funding/article-280957-detail/article.html |archive-date=5 May 2013 }} (Archived .)</ref> as is the older burial area nearest the chapel including a large circular vault. Until one was severely damaged by enemy air attack during World War II, there was a second (identical) [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformist]] chapel to the right of the unscathed [[Anglican]] building. Both are shown, together with the then abutting farmland and the playing fields of [[Plymouth College]] in a well known 1889 photograph now in the Francis Frith collection under the title 'Plymouth, the cemetery 1889'. Along the north-east side is the connected but walled-off Plymouth Jewish Cemetery.<ref>[https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/37445/plymouth-jewish-cemetery/] CWGC Cemetery report, Plymouth Jewish Cemetery (which contains 4 Commonwealth war graves). See Googlemap.</ref> Since March 2024, a resident in the adjacent house has flown a Palestinian Flag over the Jewish Commonwealth Graves marking a sign of disrespect towards those who fought for the UK. Despite Devon and Cornwall Police being contacted over 17 times, they remain in the position that no crime has taken place.

During the 1970s and 80s, poor management, a loss of revenue because few people were paying for the maintenance of plots, and the popularity of cremation, all led to the dilapidation of the site.<ref name="bbc_life">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2008/04/11/ford_park_cemetery_sg_feature.shtml|title=Bringing life back to a Plymouth cemetery|last=Geddes|first=Stuart|date=11 April 2008|publisher=BBC Devon|access-date=27 August 2008}}</ref> In January 1988, seventeen-year-old Patricia Hicks was murdered in the overgrown cemetery.<ref name="evening_news">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iNpAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3aYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5642,5101506&dq=patricia+hicks&hl=en|title=Graveyard Death Charge|work=Evening Times|date=28 January 1988|access-date=26 April 2011}}</ref> After the original cemetery company went into liquidation and after much public debate, in 2000 a trust was set up which reopened the cemetery,<ref name="bbc_trail" /> made dangerous structures safe, cleared the undergrowth, obtained renovation grants and created a walking trail around some of the graves of notable people.<ref name="bbc_trail" /> The older of the two chapels which is shown above right in a photograph of its unrestored state has now been fully restored and refurbished as a setting for all varieties of religious or secular funeral or memorial services and is also used for concerts and other events.

The cemetery is a member of the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe and the trust was awarded the [[Queen's Award for Voluntary Service]] in 2005.<ref name="nfcf">{{cite web|url=http://www.cemeteryfriends.org.uk/87.html|title=Ford Park Cemetery Trust|publisher=National Federation of Cemetery Friends|access-date=11 October 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010211037/http://www.cemeteryfriends.org.uk/87.html|archive-date=10 October 2008}}</ref> As at 2009, there are further plans for numerous works to restore and improve various parts of the cemetery, aided by the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]], including the renovation of the Anglican chapel,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ford-park-cemetery.org/ |title=Ford Park Cemetery Home – Stop Press! |publisher=Ford Park Cemetery Trust |access-date=11 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007004917/http://www.ford-park-cemetery.org/ |archive-date=7 October 2008 }} (Archived .)</ref> and provision of a memorial to the civilian dead of World War Two.<ref name="Herald" /> It is estimated there are over 10,000 usable grave spaces remaining in the cemetery.<ref name="bbc_trail" /> The cemetery has rapidly become popular again as an attractive convenient and semi-rural setting close to the city centre and the densely populated but fashionable Victorian and Edwardian suburbs.

The City of Plymouth has two large early twentieth century municipal cemeteries at [[Weston Mill]] and [[Efford]], each with chapels and now crematoria and the Drake Memorial Garden is near Elburton.

==Notable burials==
* [[Robert Hawker (poet)|Robert Hawker]] (1803–1875). the talented poet best known for the [[Song of the Western Men]], better known as the Cornish Anthem 'Trelawney'
* Mary Ann Hockaday – a Matron for 40 years at the South Devon and Cornwall Institution for the Blind
* [[Jimmy Peters (rugby)|Jimmy Peters]] (1879–1954). English Rugby Player, notable as the first black man to play rugby for England
* [[Mabel L. Ramsay|Mabel Ramsey]] (1878–1954). Plymouth's first woman surgeon who was the first woman to be appointed Surgeon-Gynaecologist at Plymouth City Hospital.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081007004917/http://www.ford-park-cemetery.org/ Ford Park Cemetery Trust website]
* [http://www.significantcemeteries.org/ Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090503193109/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/archives Plymouth and West Devon Records Office web link]

{{Cemeteries in England}}

[[Category:Cemeteries in Devon]]
[[Category:Plymouth, Devon]]
[[Category:Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England]]