# Wardsend Cemetery, Sheffield, April 2015



## HughieD (May 7, 2015)

Bit of a different place this. Easy access and not a building as such but definitely 'derelict' so to speak . This abandoned Victorian cemetery is located in the Owlerton district of Sheffield. It was consecrated by the Archbishop of York in 1859. The land was originally purchased by John Livesey in 1857, the Vicar of the nearby St. Philip's Church, as an overspill burial ground. The first burial was of a 2-year-old called Ann Marie Marsden later that year. On the night of 3th June 1862 the cemetery was the scene of a riot by angry Sheffield citizens in response to accusations that the Reverend Livesey and his sexton Isaac Howard were failing to bury corpses, and instead selling them to the city's medical school for dissection. The rumours turned out to be false so Livesey and Howard were instead fined by York Assizes for reusing graves in order to save space. 

Since its closure in 1968 Sheffield City Council has done little to maintain it and the cemetery has fallen into neglect. The cemetery was originally linked at its Hillsborough entrance by Wardsend Bridge, a two-arched stone structure built in the 18th century. However this was destroyed by the Sheffield flood on 25th June 2007. The bridge was rebuilt as a single-span integral bridge at a cost of £673,000. Ironically the graveyard is also noteworthy for holding graves of many victims of the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864.

The cemetery was the unlikely cover star, along with the nearby Cooper's scrapyard, of Castleton two-piece grunge-rock band Drenge's self-titled debut album in 2013 (see below):







OK, on with the pictures:


img8254 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8250 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8249 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8247 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8246 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8245 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8244 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8242 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8241 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8239 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8235 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8234 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8232 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8231 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8230 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img8255 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Thanks for looking...


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## UrbanX (May 7, 2015)

Nice one! 
Did you not fancy recreating the album cover? Every time I walk down Berwick Street in Soho I end up doing the Morning Glory cover  
Excellent set, looks like it has a great atmosphere.


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## HughieD (May 7, 2015)

Cheers UrbanX. Ha ha...OK. Will pop back there and do it! The cars will look different though


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## Mikeymutt (May 7, 2015)

That's rather nice..I do love a nice graveyard..lovely report there


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## smiler (May 7, 2015)

There's no indication of vandalism, the grave furniture was probably nicked years ago, I enjoyed looking, Thanks


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## tumble112 (May 7, 2015)

Very nice indeed. Just shows that cemeteries need the living too.


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## flyboys90 (May 8, 2015)

That looks quite a haven for wildlife,Cracking report and photos.


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## Old No.13 (May 8, 2015)

Just down from me, photographed it, but never thought of putting it on here. Certainly works tho' doesn't it. Great photos!


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## HughieD (May 8, 2015)

Cheers guys. With these sorts of thing you always wonder whether to do a report on them or not but glad I did now. Thank you for the kind comments....


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