Whitby Cemetery
| Whitby Cemetery | |
|---|---|
 The chapels at Whitby Cemetery | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1862 |
| Location | Whitby, North Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 54°28′30″N 0°36′36″W / 54.475°N 0.610°W |
| Type | Public |
| Owned by | North Yorkshire Council |
| Find a Grave | Whitby Cemetery |
Whitby Cemetery (or Larpool Cemetery) is a burial ground in the town of Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. Previous to the burial ground being open, interments took place in the graveyard around St Mary's Church on the east cliff of the town, by the coastline. The Larpool burial ground was opened in the 1860s, and a report from the early 2020s estimated the ground would run out of space between 2025 and 2027. Efforts to find an extension, or an alternative space, have proved problematic.
History
[edit]Up until 1861, burials were undertaken in the graveyard of St Mary's Church on the clifftop of the east cliff in Whitby town, next to the abbey.[1] The new 7-acre (2.8 ha) cemetery and chapels at Larpool were opened to the public on 1 November 1862, with the graveyard there being divided into two sections; one for adherents to the Church of England, and the other for "non-conformists".[2][3] In late 1863, the then Archbishop of York refused to consecrate the cemetery due to irregularities regarding burials which had already taken place at Larpool, but which had been carried out by persons "..not in holy orders.."[i][5] The Home Office approved the enlargement of the cemetery in 1876.[6] The older cemetery, surrounding the Church of St Mary, remained open for interments until 1865, but this was mostly in family vaults or graves, rather than new plots to be buried in.[7][8]
The chapels and gatehouse lodge of the cemetery (all on the western side of the burial ground) are Grade II listed structures to a design by Pritchett & Son of Darlington.[9][10][11] The chapels are connected by an archway which has a steeple, and also through which the main thoroughfare runs; the entire structure cost £1,657 in 1862.[12] The steeple rises to a height of 80 feet (24 m).[3] The cemetery has two main entrances and exits; one on the Whitby to Scarborough road, the other on the road between Whitby and Sneaton.[13]
In 1917 a monument was erected in the cemetery to commemorate the 91 victims of the SS Rohilla sinking. The ship had sunk just off the coast of Whitby in October 1914, but rough seas prevented lifeboats from rescuing all the occupants.[14] Thirty-three of the victims were buried in Whitby Cemetery after the disaster.[15] The cemetery has 71 Commonwealth War Graves, with the most being sailors due to Whitby's maritime location, and bodies washing ashore.[16]
A report in 2015 stated that the burials at the site were "..up to the railings.." indicating the lack of available space.[17] The cemetery is expected to run out of space between 2025 and 2027, and efforts to create an extension have been objected to by local residents as the preferred site for expansion is an area of playing fields.[18][19][20] Another site which has been earmarked for a cemetery is a parcel of land near to Whitby Golf Club, which is to the west of Whitby.[21]
Notable interments
[edit]- Thomas Chambers (1808–1869), painter[22]
- Mary Linskill (1840–1891), novelist[23][24]
Notes
[edit]- ^ The Nonconformist Journal states that this was when "..the incumbent of the parish refused to bury a deceased parishioner, and the service, after the mourners had waited in vain for their own spiritual guide, counsellor, and comforter, was performed by a Primitive Methodist minister. It now appears that in the public cemetery in which this occurred was only temporarily licensed by the archbishop; who refuses, in consequence of this act, to consecrate it."[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Wilkinson, Paul (6 October 2011). "Rector of Whitby asks Goths to respect Dracula graveyard". The Church Times. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
- ^ Reed, Silvester (1875). Reed's Guide to Whitby (3 ed.). Whitby: S. Reed. p. 38. OCLC 504705484.
- ^ a b Bradley, Thomas N. (1884). Bradley's new guide to Whitby. Whitby: Bradley. p. 38. OCLC 772861397.
- ^ "Ecclesiastical Notes". The Nonconformist. 23 (945). London: Freeman: 982. 9 December 1868. OCLC 1760422.
- ^ "News". Carlisle Journal. No. 3412. 4 December 1863. p. 5. OCLC 751707421.
- ^ "Whitby". British architect and northern engineer. VI (16). London: 253. 20 October 1876. OCLC 38541359.
- ^ Wainwright, Martin (9 January 2013). "Whitby church under threat from landslips". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ^ White, Andrew (2019) [1993]. A History of Whitby. Stroud: The History Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7509-8987-9.
- ^ Historic England. "Whitby Cemetery Chapels (Grade II) (1261290)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ Historic England. "Whitby Cemetery Lodge (Grade II) (1254421)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ "Whitby Cemetery Competition". The builder. XIX (986). London: The Builder: 902. 28 December 1861. OCLC 956083809.
- ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002) [1966]. The buildings of England: Yorkshire, the North Riding. London: Yale University Press. p. 396. ISBN 0-300-09665-8.
- ^ "Genuki: Whitby Parish information from Bulmers' 1890., Yorkshire (North Riding)". genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
- ^ "Hospital ship wreck". The Times. No. 40684. 2 November 1914. p. 3. OCLC 646880228.
- ^ "The "Rohilla" disaster - handsome monument erected in Whitby Cemetery to ninety-one victims". The Whitby Gazette. No. 3, 134. 8 June 1917. p. 4. OCLC 500372456.
- ^ "Whitby (Larpool) Cemetery | Cemetery Details | CWGC". cwgc.org. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ^ Hammond, Grace (25 May 2015). "Fears over 500-year legacy of crisis in burials". The Yorkshire Post. p. 3. ISSN 0140-0460.
- ^ "Cemetery Expansions Consultancy Request for Information - Find a Tender". www.find-tender.service.gov.uk. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
- ^ Atkins, Duncan (20 May 2022). "Whitby Cemetery: Search which 'has been extensive and exhaustive' goes on for new site". The Scarborough News. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ "Whitby: Councillor would picket cemetery expansion plan". BBC News. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ Gavaghan, Carl (22 September 2021). "Councillors prefer Whitby Golf Club site to Larpool football field for extra cemetery space". The Scarborough News. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ^ Foster, Kathleen (2008). Thomas Chambers: American marine and landscape painter, 1808 – 1869. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art. p. 2. ISBN 0876332041.
- ^ Stamp, Cordelia (23 September 2004). "Linskill, Mary Jane". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16741. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Derbyshire, Val (2016). "The Space Between: Art and the Artist in Mary Linskill's Haven Under the Hill". Track Changes. 2 (9). Sheffield: University of Sheffield: 35. ISSN 2053-9606.
