Arnos Vale Cemetery: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Cemetery in Arnos Vale, Bristol, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=SeptemberDecember 20132023}}

| lat = 51.43545

| long = -2.5655675

The cemetery includeshas a number of [[listed building]]s and monuments, including the Grade II* listed [[Church of England]] [[Mortuarymortuary]] Chapelchapel,<ref>{{citeNational webHeritage List for England|num=1282425|titledesc=Church of England Mortuary Chapel |work=historicengland.org.uk |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1282425 |accessdatedate=1925 November 2006October 2020|dffewer-links= yes}}</ref> [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] Mortuarymortuary Chapelchapel,<ref>{{citeNational web|title=NonconformistHeritage MortuaryList Chapelfor England|worknum=historicengland.org.uk 1203858|urldesc=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1203858Noncomformist Mortuary Chapel|accessdateaccess-date=1925 November 2006October 2020|dffewer-links= yes}}</ref> and entrance lodges and gates<ref>{{citeNational webHeritage List for England|titlenum=1203895|desc=Entrance Lodgeslodges and Gatesgates to Arno'sArnos Vale Cemetery |work=historicengland.org.uk |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1203895 |accessdatedate=1925 November 2006October 2020|dffewer-links= yes}}</ref> and the screen walls to main entrance.<ref>{{citeNational webHeritage List for England|titlenum=1201986|desc=Screen wallsWalls to mainMain entranceEntrance |work=historicengland.org.ukof Arnos Vale Cemetery|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1201986 |accessdatedate=1925 November 2006October 2020|dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

The cemetery was designed by [[Charles Underwood]] in the style of a Greek [[Necropolis]]. Within a few years of its opening in 1837 it became the most fashionable place to be buried in Bristol.<ref name=mellor>{{cite book |last1=Mellor |first1=Penny |title=Inside Bristol: Twenty Years of Open Doors Day |date=2013 |publisher=Redcliffe Press |isbn=978-1908326423 |pages=14–15}}</ref>

During the 20th century the cemetery fell into disrepair, and local groups began campaigning for its restoration. In 1987 the owner disclosed plans to exhume the bodies and develop the site for housing. Early in the 21st century, following a public campaign, the site was subject to a [[compulsory purchase order]] by [[Bristol City Council]].<ref name=mellor/>

In 2003 it was featured on the BBC programme ''[[Restoration (television)|Restoration]]''. The cemetery was a South West region runner-up and has since received a £4.8 million [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] grant.<ref>{{cite web |title=Arnos Vale Awarded £4.8 Million Heritage Lottery Funding |work=Nicholas Pearsons Associates, 2006 |url=http://www.npaconsult.co.uk/news.asp#Arnos2 |accessdateaccess-date=19 November 2006 |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209061140/http://www.npaconsult.co.uk/news.asp |archivedatearchive-date= 9 December 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The cemetery is undergoing restoration, however the Mortuary Chapel,<ref>{{cite web | title=Mortuary Chapel, Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bath Road | work=English Heritage Register of Buildings at Risk | url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConBar.4728 | accessdateaccess-date=10 May 2007}}</ref> Entrance Lodges and Gates<ref>{{cite web | title=Entrance Lodges and Gates, Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bath Road | work=English Heritage Register of Buildings at Risk | url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConBar.4727 | accessdateaccess-date=10 May 2007}}</ref> and Nonconformist Mortuary Chapel<ref>{{cite web | title=Nonconformist Mortuary Chapel, Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bath Road | work=English Heritage Register of Buildings at Risk | url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConBar.5102 | accessdateaccess-date=10 May 2007}}</ref> remain on the [[English Heritage]] [[Heritage at Risk Register]].

[[Image:arnosvale.broken.graves.arp.jpg|thumb|right|Broken [[grave (burial)|grave]]sgravestones awaiting restoration]]

* [[Charles Baggs]], Roman Catholic bishop

* [[Roland Brotherhood]], engineer and friend of [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]].

* [[Mary Carpenter]], educational and social reformer

* [[Gronow Davis]], ([[Victoria Cross|VC]]), recipient and [[Crimean War]] hero

* [[Dora Greenwell]] (1821–1882), poet<ref>{{cite book |author=William Dorling |title=Memoirs of Dora Greenwell |url=https://booksarchive.google.comorg/books?id=V355KGC-yucC&pg=PA244details/memoirsofdoragre00dorl |year=1885 |publisher=J. Clarke |page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsofdoragre00dorl/page/244 244]}}</ref>

* [[Anthony Norris Groves]], missionary

* [[George RawsonMüller]], hymnwriterorphanage founder

* [[Elisha Smith Robinson]], industrialist, [[Mayor of [[Bristol]] 1866 and benefactor

* Raja [[Ram Mohan Roy]], [[India]]nIndian social reformer

The reformer [[Ram Mohan Roy|Raja Ram Mohan Roy]] (22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) died at Bristol on 27 September 1833 and was first buried at [[Stapleton, Bristol|Stapleton]], but was reinterred in 1843 in the newly laid out Arnos Vale cemetery under the mausoleum designed by [[William Prinsep]], which is a copy of an Indian tomb or ''[[chhatri]]'' (literally meaning umbrella).<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Tomb of Raja Ram Mohan Roy |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1282389 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1282389 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref> According to information available at the cemetery, a commemoration is held annually at this chhatri, attended by Unitarians, Bristol's Lord Mayor and the Indian High Commissioner plus Indians and British who remember with gratitude the works of the "Founder of Modern India".

A previously missing (and unknown) miniature ivory portrait bust of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was unveiled at the annual commemoration of the death of the Indian religious, social, and educational reformer, and humanitarian, at Arnos Vale cemetery in Bristol, on 22 September 2013. Ram Mohan Roy challenged traditional Hindu culture and indicated the lines of progress for Indian society under British rule. The ivory portrait bust of Ram Mohan Roy made in London in 1832 by the famous ivory carver [[Benjamin Cheverton]] (1796-18761796–1876), is based on a bust made around the same time by the gifted sculptor George Clarke (1796-18421796–1842). The bust is exceptional because Ram Mohan Roy gave sittings to Clarke (the only time he did this for a sculptor) to enable the bust to be modelled, and Cheverton copied the bust in ivory for George Clarke, who lent his model to Cheverton to enable this to be done. The process employed by Cheverton to make the copy means that it is identical with Clarke's bust, save that it is on a reduced scale. Clarke's bust is missing, and this small ivory bust is the finest three-dimensional representation of Ram Mohan Roy that exists, since it reflects exactly what was observed when the great man sat to Clarke to have his bust modelled.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/rare-bust-of-rammohun-roy-unveiled-in-britain-113092300501_1.html |title=Rare bust of Rammohun Roy unveiled in Britain |first=Prasun |last=Sonwalkar |work=[[Business Standard]] |date=23 September 2013 |accessdateaccess-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017135530/http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/rare-bust-of-rammohun-roy-unveiled-in-britain-113092300501_1.html |archivedatearchive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=190655 |title=Rare bust of Rammohun Roy unveiled in Britain |work=[[Daijiworld Media]] |date=23 September 2013 |accessdateaccess-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022234449/http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=190655 |archivedatearchive-date=22 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130929/jsp/calcutta/story_17401612.jsp#.UkdYTIbUnz5 |title=The Rajah rediscovered on reel |first=Chandreyee |last=Ghose |work=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)]] |date=29 September 2013 |accessdateaccess-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=livedead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017070129/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130929/jsp/calcutta/story_17401612.jsp |archivedatearchive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130929/jsp/7days/17404049.jsp |title=Portrait of a reformer |first=Shrabani |last=Basu |work=The Telegraph (Calcutta) |date=29 September 2013 |accessdateaccess-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=livedead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017070039/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130929/jsp/7days/17404049.jsp |archivedatearchive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref>

More than 500 British Commonwealth servicemen and women from both World Wars commemorated by the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] (CWGC) are buried or listed at the cemetery, mostly from military hospitals of the area. Most of the 356 servicemen from [[World War I]] are buried in the 'Soldiers Corner' plot near the main entrance. Special memorials commemorate one casualty whose grave could not be located and another buried at [[Bedminster, Bristol|Bedminster]] Church Cemetery whose grave could not be maintained. There are 149 servicemen and women from [[World War II]] buried here, all in scattered graves apart from a group in a plot in the upper part of the cemetery who were from the Naval Hospital in [[Barrow Gurney]]. Those whose graves are not marked by headstones are listed on four bronze panels on a Screen Wall memorial.<ref name=cwgc>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/38504/BRISTOL%20(ARNOS%20VALE)%20CEMETERY |title=Bristol (Arnos Vale) Cemetery |work=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |year=2013 |accessdateaccess-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017065608/http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/38504/BRISTOL%20%28ARNOS%20VALE%29%20CEMETERY |archivedatearchive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref><ref name="TBP 2011"/> Nearly 70,000 casualties from the Western Front were brought to Bristol on trains and in hospital ships, "and the relatively small number of servicemen buried in Bristol indicates that, once a wounded serviceman reached England, his chances of survival were quite good".<ref name="TBP 2011">{{cite web |author=The Bristol Post |date=21 October 2011 |title=The memorial that ensures we will never forget our soldiers |publisher=Express and Echo |url=http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/memorial-ensures-forget-soldiers/story-13620177-detail/story.html |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622064632/http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/memorial-ensures-forget-soldiers/story-13620177-detail/story.html |archivedatearchive-date=22 June 2015 |access-date=12 January 2015 }}</ref>

{| align="center" | style="text-align: center;"

|AD 1914-19181914–1918 || ||That we who died serving her</center>

| || ||Rest here content {{efn|This is very similar to the epitaph on the earlier [[Wagon Hill Cemetery Monument]] near [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal|Ladysmith]] in South Africa which is dedicated to 14 members of the [[Imperial Light Horse]] who fell at the [[Battle of Wagon Hill]] during the [[Second Boer War|BoreBoer War]], and was inspired by the famous [[Battle of Thermopylae#Epitaph of Simonides|epitaph of Simonides]] at Thermopylae.<ref>{{citation |last=Vandiver |first=Elizabeth |year=2010 |title=Stand in the Trench, Achilles: Classical Receptions in British Poetry of the Great War Classical Presences |isbn=9780191609213 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://books.google.co.ukcom/books?id=c35asb9J96kC&lpg=RA4-PA27&pg=PR62#v=onepage&q&f=false lxii]}}</ref>}}

Burial registers are held by the Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arnosvale.org.uk/discover/heritage/family-record-searches/ |title=Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust webpage |accessdateaccess-date=30 November 2016 |url-status=live |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201211254/https://arnosvale.org.uk/discover/heritage/family-record-searches/ |archivedatearchive-date= 1 December 2016 }}</ref> Records of the Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery are held at [[Bristol Archives]] (Ref. 45068) ([http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=45068 online catalogue]).

== Grade II listed Monumentsmonuments ==

* 1852 Monument to [[James Bartlett]]<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Monument to James Bartlett |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1282387 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1282387 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* 1857 Monument to Thomas Lucas<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Monument to Thomas Lucas |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1201985 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1201985 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* 1857 Monument to [[Francis Barber Ogden]]<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Monument to Francis Barber Ogden |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1201982 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1201982 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* 1860 Monument to John Tilly<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Monument to John Tilly |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1201983 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1201983 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* 1880 Obelisk memorial<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Obelisk memorial |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1201984 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1201984 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* 1890 Monument to [[Heber Denty]]<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Monument to Heber Denty |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1201981 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1201981 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* Monument 2 metres east of Tilly monument<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=Monument 2 metres east of Tilly monument |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1282386 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1282386 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* The War Memorial<ref>{{cite webNHLE|titledesc=War Memorial |worknum=historicengland.org.uk1201980 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/theaccess-list/list-entry/1201980 |accessdatedate=19 November 2006 |dffewer-links= yes}}</ref>

* Monument to Francis Bennett.<ref name="avctrust.freeserve.co.uk">{{cite web |title=Listed Monuments |url=http://www.avctrust.freeserve.co.uk/listed_monuments1.htm |publisher=Arnos Vale |accessdateaccess-date=8 March 2015 |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828012121/http://www.avctrust.freeserve.co.uk/listed_monuments1.htm |archivedatearchive-date=28 August 2008}}</ref>

* {{cite web |url= http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=201419 |title=Arnos Vale Cemetery |work=[[English Heritage]]: Pastscape }}