Hull General Cemetery

Hull General Cemetery is a Victorian garden cemetery on Spring Bank in the west of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Today it is a quiet urban woodland and heritage site, cared for by volunteers, and a good stop for anyone interested in the city's 19th-century story.

How did Hull General Cemetery begin?

A private company founded the cemetery in 1847. It was laid out as a "garden cemetery", a fashionable type of burial ground in Victorian Britain that combined graves with planted, landscaped grounds. The first superintendent was John Shields, and burials began in April 1847. The original entrance was on Prince's Avenue and featured a Gothic Revival chapel and gates designed by the Hull-born architect Cuthbert Brodrick. The chapel and lodge were later demolished, but the Grade II listed gates were moved and still stand at the site.

In 1862 Hull Corporation opened its own cemetery next door, now known as Western Cemetery. Around 1890 the General Cemetery was extended westward across Chanterlands Avenue onto a neighbouring plot.

What is the history behind the graves?

The cemetery took in mass burials during the 1849 cholera outbreak. The resident minister, the Reverend James Sibree, recorded that on a single day he conducted 43 funerals, which gives a sense of how severe the epidemic was in Hull.

Many of the people buried here were local dignitaries, clergy, artists, surgeons, gentry and industrialists. Names associated with the site include William Clowes, Zachariah Pearson, Thomas Wilson, Henry Blundell and John Gravill. Surviving memorials include one to George Milner, one of the original directors, and the tombs of the Reverend Thomas Stratten and Thomas Earle.

Among roughly 10,000 unmarked pauper graves stands the monument to John Fountain, a former Guardian of the Hull Workhouse, who asked to be buried among the poor.

Is there a Quaker burial ground?

Yes. A Quaker burial ground lies within the cemetery. Five headstones from the older Hodgson Street Quaker ground were relocated here, including one for Elizabeth, the first wife of Anthony Wells, who was buried in 1676.

What is the cemetery like today?

Burials ended in 1972, and Hull City Council acquired the site for a nominal sum. Nature has since reclaimed much of it, and it is now an urban woodland. Only about 1,000 headstones remain. The Friends of Hull General Cemetery, formed in 2018, look after the grounds and research its history.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Hull General Cemetery? On Spring Bank (Spring Bank West) in the west of Kingston upon Hull, England.

When was it established? In 1847, by a private company.

Is it still used for burials? No. It closed to burials in 1972.

Who looks after it now? The Friends of Hull General Cemetery, a volunteer group formed in 2018, with the site owned by Hull City Council.

Who designed the original gates and chapel? Cuthbert Brodrick, an architect born in Hull. The chapel is gone, but the Grade II listed gates survive.