Cemetery Reports
A wealth of information to help the family historian can be found from gravestones and their inscriptions. Unfortunately, many of the sites linked to churches and chapels have disappeared due to the decline in congregations and many gravestones have been removed or damaged so it is essential that the ones remaining are recorded for future family historians.
A team of volunteers from the Society have been busy photographing and transcribing the monumental inscriptions at some of the cemeteries and graveyards in the Kirklees’ area.
One of our earlier projects was the recording of monumental inscriptions at Lockwood Municipal Cemetery. This cemetery covers a wide range of districts in the Huddersfield area. Both consecrated and general areas of the cemetery contain graves for its residents who originated from Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth, particularly, the West Indies.
These often depict a country flag or map, a reminder of the birth or origins of the deceased. Gravestones at Lockwood vary in type from the ornate Victorian style of columns and crosses, with fancy lettering, often in gold or engraved, or with lead lettering to the present, modern styles of shiny granite and marble. But, as is often the case in all graveyards, there is no gravestone, just a bare piece of grass. Often municipal graveyards, as well as a burial register, keep a grave register and this provides valuable information of the person buried, their address and occupation and these registers are in the process of being transcribed by a team of volunteers from the Society.
What records are available?
Edgerton Cemetery is the largest municipal cemetery in the Huddersfield area and lies northwest of Huddersfield town centre off the A629 on Cemetery Rd, Huddersfield, HD1 5NF.
It was opened in 1855 and consists of sixteen acres, with Consecrated, Unconsecrated and General sections. Further information about the history of the cemetery can be found here.
Lockwood Cemetery, also known as Woodfield Cemetery, is situated south- west of Huddersfield town centre between Lockwood and Netherton on the B6108. HD4 7BG. The first recorded burial was for Alfred Schofield who died on June 13th, 1902.
Our team has since then been involved in recording graves at various locations in the area. A list of completed projects is appended below.
COMPLETED MI PROJECTS
The MI Project team have documented over 7,000 monuments/memorials for over 20,000 burials in 27 locations. Completed projects are listed below:
| St Paul's Church Graveyard, Armitage Road, Armitage Bridge | Meltham Methodist Burial Ground, Mill Moor Road, Meltham |
| Edgerton Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Edgerton | St James's Church Graveyard, Huddersfield Road, Meltham Mills |
| Gate Head Burial Ground (East), Gate Head Lane, Gate Head | St Luke's Church Graveyard, Manchester Road, Milnsbridge |
| Gate Head Burial Ground (West), Gate Head Lane, Gate Head | Lydgate Burial Ground, Holmfirth Road, New Mill |
| Hade Edge Burial Ground, Dunford Road, Hade Edge | Christ Church Graveyard (Main), Sude Hill, New Mill |
| Christ Church Graveyard, Slades Lane, Helme | Christ Church Burial Ground (Top), Sude Hill, New Mill |
| Holy Trinity Graveyard, Towngate, Hepworth | Outlane Methodist Burial Ground (Lower), New Hey Road, Outlane |
| St David's Church Graveyard, Woodhead Road, Holmbridge | Outlane Methodist Burial Ground (Upper), New Hey Road, Outlane |
| Lockwood Baptist Burial Ground, Lockwood Road, Lockwood | Shepley Methodist Burial Ground, Marsh Lane, Shepley |
| Lockwood Cemetery, Meltham Road, Lockwood | St Paul's Church Graveyard, Marsh Lane, Shepley |
| Meltham Methodist Burial Ground, Calmlands Road, Meltham | Holy Trinity Church Graveyard (Main), Church Lane, South Crosland |
| St Bartholomews Church Graveyard, Greens End Road, Meltham | Holy Trinity Burial Ground (Extension), Church Lane, South Crosland |
| St Bartholomew's Burial Ground, Calmlands Road, Meltham | St Mary's Church Graveyard, Wilshaw Road, Wilshaw |
| Meltham Baptist Burial Ground, Mean Lane, Meltham |
Our team would be delighted to welcome new volunteers to assist with this valuable research. If you would like to join our very enthusiastic team please select ‘MI Coordinator’ on the contact form to request further details. You need not live locally, as we have volunteers from around the globe who help with checking work done by our local, on the ground, team.
In the near future we are looking to make many of our records available on the website via our members only page and also submitted to the FindMyPast website, and for purchase from our website shop. Packages are available including plans, images and relevant burial information. Please select ‘Research’ on the contact form for further details. Our team of research volunteers at The Root Cellar in Meltham would also be happy to assist in researching our records. Please contact them to discuss and maybe arrange to visit The Root Cellar. Details for burials and monumental inscriptions in the last 25 years will not be provided.
Finally, Section Three of the Library Catalogue contains lists of graveyard plans, burials and Memorial Inscriptions held as paper copies. Section Ten of the catalogue contains histories of many churches in the area.