St George's Fields

St George's Fields is a green space on the University of Leeds campus that served for well over a century as a burial ground. Today it is a quiet place to walk, and an important piece of the city's history in the north of England.

What is St George's Fields?

The park is a former cemetery, known earlier as Leeds General Cemetery and before that as Woodhouse Cemetery. It lies in Leeds close to the university campus, at roughly 53.8088 N, 1.5568 W. It is no longer an active burial ground but an open green space that visitors can explore.

How did the cemetery begin?

The Leeds General Cemetery Company was established in 1833 to provide and maintain a public burial ground for the town. The cemetery opened in 1835, and the first recorded burial took place on 23 July. Tens of thousands of people were buried here over the following decades. Sources give differing totals, from about 93,500 to more than 95,000 interments.

What happened in the twentieth century?

In 1956 the University of Leeds acquired the company by buying all of its shares. The University of Leeds Act of 1965 then gave the university powers to landscape the site. Burials ended in 1969. Between March and November 1968, contractors removed the headstones and memorials, and the ground was turned into green space.

The chapel and notable graves

The cemetery chapel remains on site. It was designated as being of special architectural and historical interest in 1963. Among those buried here is Ann Carr (1783-1841), a pioneering female preacher of the Primitive Methodist movement, which makes the site of interest to anyone curious about religious history. The grounds also hold the graves of 105 casualties of the First and Second World Wars, who are commemorated at Lawnswood Cemetery.

Frequently asked questions

Is St George's Fields still a cemetery? No. Burials stopped in 1969 and the site was converted into a park on the university campus.

Who owns the site? The University of Leeds has controlled the former cemetery company since 1956.

Do burial records survive? The company's archive is held in the University's Special Collections, and the burial registers have been digitised as part of the Medical Collections project.

Who is it for? Anyone who enjoys quiet walks, local history, genealogy or nineteenth-century chapel architecture. It combines well with a visit to the campus.