The Opening of Glossop Cemetery

The Opening of Glossop Cemetery.

Concerns regarding public health, coupled with the fact that a number of church burial grounds were running out of space, led to a number of Burial Acts in the 1850s which enabled the creation of Burial Boards, which could establish and run cemeteries, and allowed the discontinuance of burials in church yards by Order in Council. One of the boards created as a result was the Burial Board for the parish of Glossop which, in 1859, purchased “land at Allmans Heath in the parish of Glossop” from Lord Edward George Fitzalan Howard of Glossop and his trustees.

The first edition of the Glossop Record, published on 2 July 1859, carried the following advertisement:
Glossop Cemetery
This Cemetery situated at All Man's Heath, midway between Glossop and Hadfield, is now open for interments. The following rules and regulations for its management, have been adopted by the Burial Board. The charges and fees will be made public as soon as possible, after receiving the approval of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Home Department.
Rules
1. All notice and applications for graves or vaults must be made to the Registrar, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., at his office, situate at the entrance to the Cemetery; and all persons ordering or applying for a grave or vault must state the name in full, the age, late residence and parish or township of the person to be interred. The notice must be in the form provided, which may be obtained gratis at the Cemetery lodge. And all parties must produce the certificate of the registrar of the district before the interment can take place, and, if possible, at the time of giving notice of interment. All charges and fees must be paid in advance to the registrar, and no funeral will be permitted to enter the ground until such charges are paid.
2. At least two days' previous notice must be given to the registrar, at the Cemetery, before an interment can take place in a grave (unless by special order of the committee, and on the production of a medical certificate given within 24 hours of the death, stating that it is necessary that the interment should take place earlier), and if an interment is to take place on a Monday, notice must be given not later than the preceding Friday.
3. Morning funerals are required to be at the Cemetery punctually at 12 o'clock at noon, and an extra fee of five shillings will be charged if the funeral is later than fifteen minutes past the time appointed. Afternoon funerals are to be at the Cemetery punctually at 4 o'clock from 29th September to 25th of March; and at 5 o'clock from 25th March to 29th September. An extra charge of two shillings and sixpence will be made if the funeral is more than fifteen minutes after the time fixed for its arrival.
4. In the unconsecrated ground the ministers of the respective chapels are engaged to conduct the services weekly, in rotation; but parties are at liberty to obtain the services of the minister of the congregation to which they belong, subject to arrangement with the minister whose week it is to officiate.
5. All walled graves or vaults to be made, and the soil to be removed as the board may direct, at the expense of the parties requiring the same; and all work on the re-opening of a vault must be done by the purchaser, at his won cost. All other graves to be dug and excavated by the person appointed by the burial board or under his superintendence, at the sum named in the scale of fees.
6. The selection of a grave or vault space, in all cases, both of general interment and of purchase, is to be subject to the approval of the board, or of a committee appointed by them; but the wishes of the applicants will be met as far as may be deemed practicable; but no exclusive rights of burial will be sold in the ground allotted for common graves.
7. All vaults and graves will be sold subject to the present or any future regulations issued, or to be issued with regard to burial grounds by Her Majesty's Secretary of State, the burial board, or other competent authority; and also subject to the fees payable on subsequent interments.
8. Plots of ground may be purchased for the use of a family. A layer of earth eighteen inches in thickness at least shall be left between each coffin, and the next interred in the same grave; or the coffin arched over with bricks, or covered by a flat stone, and made air-tight. Corpses interred in a family plot shall never be exhumed for the purpose of enlarging or deepening a grave.
9. In vaults or walled graves, the body must be enclosed in an air-tight metallic coffin, or the coffin must be covered by a set of stone slabs.
10. No brick or stone is to be used in, or upon any monument, tomb, or horizontal stone, erected or laid upon, or over any grave, except those in which the exclusive right of burial is first purchased; and where a head-stone is erected over an unpurchased grave, the board reserves the right at any time to remove such stone for the purpose of allowing the grave to be again used; and the parties purchasing reserved graves will not be permitted to use any brickwork or masonry in the same.
11. Previous to any subsequent burial in a vault or grave, in which the exclusive right of burial has been purchased, the certificate of purchase and the written consent of the owner must be left at the office before the vault or grave can be permitted to be re-opened, or the interment take place. But the owner of the vault or purchased grave shall not have the power of transferring the right of burial in the same, to any other than the relations by blood or marriage; unless by will, or with the consent of the board. Any person establishing a right under this rule will be furnished, if required, with a certificate of proprietorship on application to the registrar, and payment of fees payable for the same.
12. When a burial has taken place, the surface of the ground shall be levelled or filled up, not higher than twelve inches above the ordinary level of the ground and covered with fresh turf, unless a monument is to be erected thereon, but in no case shall the bare earth be left exposed.
13. All the materials must be conveyed into the Cemetery either on hand, or in carts or trucks with flat tires not less than four inches in width; and all materials not used, rubbish, or refuse, must be used forthwith; and the board are at liberty to refuse to allow a tradesman or workman to perform any work in the Cemetery, in case of non-compliance with any of these rules and regulations; and a deposit of ten shillings shall be made with the registrar, by all masons and others, prior to the erection or admission into the burial ground of any work in which they may be engaged, which shall be repaid to them upon clearing away all dirt or rubbish, and re-instating the turf damaged, or other injury done by other workmen, or on default will be applied towards that purpose so far as it will extend, they being held liable for any deficiency. The decision of the registrar shall be final and binding in these cases.
14. All gravestones, monuments, tombs, memorials, and inscriptions, are to be subject to the approval of the burial board, and a copy of every inscription (if containing anything more than the name, date of death, and age of the deceased) proposed to be placed in the ground, and a drawing showing the form and dimensions of every tomb, monument, or stone proposed to be erected must be left at the registrar's office, at least ten days for approval; and copies of such drawings and inscriptions are to be filed by the registrar. A certificate of the approval of the board will be given before they can be erected in any part of the Cemetery. All questions as to the fitness of any monumental inscription in the consecrated part of the grounds are ultimately determinable by the Bishop of the diocese.
15. No monument, tomb, headstone, or other erection will be allowed to be erected, unless supported on a proper foundation. No hewing or dressing of stone will be permitted within the burial ground or any approaches to the same; and mats, canvass, or boards must be used to preserve the grass or turf when erecting monuments, and such other precautions as the registrar may direct. All monuments, when commenced, shall be proceeded with from day to day, until completed.
16. All tombs, monuments, and gravestones, and all paces of burial must be kept in repair by the owners - otherwise they will be filled up or removed by the board. Copper cramps alone to be used in the erection of monuments.
17. The burial board reserve to themselves the right of placing and continuing upon any tomb, monument, or stone over a vault or grave, their private mark of reference to every such vault or grave - which shall not be removable by the owner.
18. A registrar of burials, both in the consecrated and unconsecrated portions of the ground will be kept at the Cemetery Lodge, where searches may be made, and certified extracts obtained in office hours. A plan of the burial ground, showing the situations of the purchased and other graves is also kept at the lodge, and may be inspected without fee.
19. No officer or servant of the board is permitted to receive any fee or gratuity on pain of dismissal; and all complaints of incivility or inattention are to be made to the board.
20. Every person who shall wilfully destroy or injure any building, wall, fence, gate, post, rail, road or approach of, or belonging to, or connected with the burial ground, or destroy or injure any tree or plant therein, or who shall daub or disfigure any wall thereof, or wilfully destroy, injure, or deface any monument, tablet, inscription, or gravestone, or do any other wilful damage, play at any game or sport, or discharge firearms (save at a military funeral), in the burial ground, or wilfully and unlawfully disturb any persons assembled therein, for the purpose of burying any body therein, or commit any nuisance within the ground, is liable to forfeit to the burial board for every such offence, a sum not exceeding Ł5.
21. Instructions will be given to the Registrar at the lodge to warn all persons who shall be found trespassing, and such persons will be liable to be punished as the law directs. The Registrar is sworn in as a special constable, and has orders to turn out or take into custody (as the case may require), any person who may behave indecorously, or commit any trespass or injury to the trees or erections or otherwise infringe the regulations for the protection and management of the burial ground.
22. No dogs will be admitted into the ground, nor will smoking be permitted.
23. The letter and figures to be engraved on the obelisks in no case to exceed one inch in length; to be subject to the approval of the board, both as respects the inscription and position in which it is engraved.
24. Portions of the burial ground in each division shall be appropriated for common graves, and shall be divided into grave spaces of not less than the following dimensions namely:- for children under twelve years of age, six feet by three feet; for persons above twelve years of age, nine feet by four feet.

The paper also carried the following short article:
Closing of Burial Grounds.—By an order of the Queen in Council, interments are now discontinued in the burial ground of the Parish Church, Glossop, except in vaults and walled graves, which may be used on the following conditions, viz:—“That when required, they be opened without disturbing soil that has been already buried in,and that each coffin be embedded in a layer of powdered charcoal, four inches thick, and be separately entombed in an air-tight manner." With the above exceptions, and subject to the same conditions, interments are also discontinued in Littlemoor Chapel yard, and in the yard connected with the Wesleyan Chapel, Hadfield. The prohibition does not extend to Whitfield Church Burial Ground, nor to any other in the townships of Glossop Dale.

It would appear that the Burial Board was a little premature in advertising before it had agreed its rules with all concerned as this letter (and comment from the Record) appeared the following week.
To the Editor of the Record.
Sir.—In the 4th rule of the Glossop Cemetery, as published in your issue of last week, the following occurs:—‘‘In the unconsecrated ground the ministers of the respective chapels are engaged to conduct the services weekly, in rotation;”. Can you give any information, Mr. Editor, as to whom this rule applies? Although residing in Glossop, and minister of one of its chapels, I was ignorant of such an arrangement until I saw your paper. Another minister in Glossop, having a large chapel and congregation, has never been consulted. Waiting for information, I remain, yours truly, INQUIRER
Glossop. July 7th, 1859.
[Before the rules for the Glossop Burial Board are officially put into circulation by the Board, we are authorised to say that every resident minister of a congregation, within the limits of the Board will have been consulted, and engaged to take his week. Mr. Paul among the rest: so that the rule will be strictly correct when officially issued. —Ed.]

That same issue of the paper (9 July 1859) also carried a report showing that the Board was catching up (at least as far as agreeing fees went):
A vestry meeting, of which due notice was given, was held in the Vestry of the Parish Church, Glossop, on Thursday afternoon last, at 3 o'clock. The attendance was very meagre. The Rev. T. Atkin was appointed Chairman. The object of the meeting was to consider the amount of Compensation Fees to be paid to the Vicar, the incumbents of District Churches, and the parish Clerk and Sexton on interment in the consecrated part of the Cemetery at All Man's Heath, in lieu of the rights and privileges to which they arr entitled by Art of Parliament, in relation to all graves purchased in the consecrated ground.
After reading the notice by which the meeting had been called,
The Chairman explained that the Burial Art reserved to Incumbents of Churches the same rights in consecrated portions of Cemeteries to which they were entitled in Parish Church yards ; so that, in addition to the charge of the Burial Board for a grave, the Incumbent had an additional charge upon such grave, to the amount of what he would have received had then grave been purchased in the Parish Church Yard; that such extra charge would cause the graves in the consecrated part to cost perhaps twice the sum a grave would cost in the unconsecrated part; and that it had been deemed expedient to propose that all purchased graves of the same class should be of one price in each department of the ground; but that an additional amount of fee on each interment in the consecrated part should be paid to the Incumbents in lieu of the charge they are entitled to make upon any purchased grave.
The additional amount of fee proposed and carried, was 1s. On every interment in common ground ; 2s. 6d. in purchased unwalled graves; 3s. 6d. In walled graves; and 5s. in vaults.
It was stated that this scale had been approved by the Vicar and the Incumbents of Whitfield; and that it would be below what they would have received by their legal charge upon every purchased grave; that the fees in the other parts would less by these sums; but that parties who valued consecration would not object to pay the larger amount, for the privilege to be enjoyed.
The compensation fee to the Clerk and Sexton of the Parish Church, Glossop, to be paid on every interment from the ecclesiastical parish of Glossop, was proposed to be 1s. 6d.; which resolution was carried.
The approval of the Bishop of the Diocese is necessary to give validity to the act of the Vestry.
The whole list of Charges and Fees will be published after the approval of the Secretary of State has been given to those of a general character, and the approval of the Bishop to those relating more immediately to the clergy.

The Record's Editorial of 9 July 1859 had this to say about the new cemetery:
The manner of disposing of the dead has been different in various nations, and in the same nation at different periods in its history. The most ancient mode appears to have been by inhumation, or by depositing the body in an excavated cave or vault. From this mode, which seems to be a dictate of nature, many nations have departed. The Persians, under a notion that the body was composed of the four elements, — earth, air, water, and fire — were accustomed to expose the body on towers erected for the purpose, that each of the elements, by the gradual decay of the body, might get its own. On the occasion of placing it for exposure, the priest uttered the words, to which the words in the burial service of the Church of England are somewhat analogous, “This, our brother, consisted of the four elements; now he is dead let each take its own, earth to earth, air to air, water to water, fire to fire”. The ancient Greeks and Romans disposed of the bodies of the dead by burning, and afterwards collected the ashes and deposited them in an urn : from which custom seems to have arisen the expression still current. “Peace to his ashes”. This practice, being revolting to survivors, fell into disuse ; and return took place to the natural mode of inhumation. The burial places of the Greeks were groves consecrated for the purpose, which were usually without the cities. Among the Jews, none but kings and distinguished persons were buried within the walls of a city. The tombs of the Romans were generally along the sides of the public roads, and were not suffered to have a place within the city.
The practice of burying within cities, and especially in the vicinity of churches, or within their walls, had its origin among Christians, at a very early date: which practice has come down to the present time, few customs, however, are more deleterious to health : and it seems strange that this fact should have been so long overlooked or disregarded. Of late years, the subject of interment has been brought under public notice in England ; and sanitary reformers have at length made their voices to be heard in high places. By an Act passed in the session of parliament held in the sixteenth and seventeenth years of Her present Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act to amend the Laws concerning the Burial of the dead in England,” it is, among other things, enacted, “that in case it appears to Her Majesty in council, upon the representation of one of Her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, that for the protection of the public health, the opening of any new burial ground should be prohibited in any city or town ; or that burials in any city or town, or place of burial, should be wholly discontinued ; or subject to any exception or qualification ; it shall be lawful for Her Majesty in council to order that no such new burial ground shall be opened, or that burials in existing burial ground shall be discontinued;” &c. By an order in council, the burial ground of the Parish Church, Glossop, of Littlemoor Chapel, and of Hadfield Chapel, have been closed, with exceptions in favour of vaults and walled graves. A Cemetery has been provided, at the expense of the parish, at All Man's Heath, central between the two populations of Glossop and Hadfield. The situation, though somewhat bleak, is well chosen. The site affords a beautiful view of the hills and dales by which it is encircled: and when the grounds are brought into order and planted with shrubs, will be more attractive as a place of resort for walking recreation, and less repulsive than it at present appears to be, as a final resting place for the body.
The present generation may not take much interest in the Cemetery, as it may not afford them many hallowed and melancholy reminiscences of relatives and friends slumbering beneath its green turf, or reposing under its shrubs: but the next generation will resort to it, to muse and to weep, — to read the inscriptions upon the stones which will cover the graves of men now living, — or to mark the spot where is deposited the remains of their parents. Many a sigh will be uttered within its enclosure. Many tears will bedew its surface. Mothers will be seen weeping over the graves of their children, because they are not. Children will stand with sorrowful hearts upon the graves of their parents : and widows will go up to the spot, sacred as the resting place of those with whom, when living, they were united, and whom, though dead, they cannot forget. After the lapse of time, no locality will be so dear to the heart of Glossop, as All Man's Heath: men, women, and children, will take melancholy pleasure in its stones and favour the dust thereof.

The Burial Board didn't take too long over the outstanding matters as, in the Glossop Record of 16 July 1859, we find this advertisement:
BURIAL BOARD FOR THE PARISH OF GLOSSOP, IN THE COUNTY OF DERBY.
The following is the Table of Fees to be taken at the New Burial Ground, at Allman's Heath:

	Board	Officiating Minister	Sexton	Total
CLASS A. – COMMON GROUND	£ s. d.	£ s. d.	£ s. d.	£ s. d.
Single Internments, - Adult	0 5 0	0 2 6	0 5 0	0 12 6
Do. Choice of Ground, extra	0 2 6
Single Internments, - Child	0 4 0	0 2 6	0 4 0	0 10 6
Do. Choice of Ground, extra	0 2 6
Still-born Child	0 2 0
B. – FAMILY GRAVES
Single Grave	1 5 0	0 2 6	0 5 0	1 12 6
Do. Choice of Ground, extra	0 5 0
Subsequent Interments to the First	0 5 0	0 2 6	0 5 0	0 12 6
Single Grave, walled, the digging by the Sexon, - walling at the cost of the Purchaser	1 7 6	0 2 6	0 10 0	2 0 0
Choice of Ground, extra	0 5 0
Subsequent Interments	0 5 0	0 2 6	0 5 0	0 12 6
C. – VAULTS
Vaults, 3 Grave space	4 4 0	0 5 0	0 10 6	4 19 6
4 do.	5 5 0	0 5 0	0 10 6	6 0 6
5 do.	7 7 0	0 5 0	0 10 6	8 2 6
Choice of Ground	1 1 0
Subsequent Interments	0 10 0	0 5 0	0 10 6	1 5 6
Deed of grant of Ground, if required, exclusive of stamp	0 10 6
Permission to place Head-stone or Flat-stone	0 5 0
Do. to erect Tomb or Monument	0 10 6
Do. do. Palisading	0 10 6
Removing and replacing Headstone	0 5 0
Certificate of Ownership of Grave	0 1 0
Certificate of Burial	0 1 0
Searching Register	0 1 0
Tolling Bell	0 0 6

The fee for the officiating minister at every morning funeral, and at every Sunday funeral, will be 5s.
The charge for digging graves below 7 feet, will be 1s. per foot extra.
                      Do.              do.       10 feet,      1s. 6d.       do.
As the Burial Act reserves to Parish Incumbents the same rights in the consecrated parts of Burial Grounds which they have, or had, in Parish Church Yards, an additional Fee, in lieu of the Incumbents claims, with respect to every purchased grave or vault in the consecrated part, will he charged, in the case of interments, in that part, as follows:-
For every interment in the Common ground       1s. 0d.
       Do.       do.      in the Family Graves           2s. 6d.
       Do.       do.      in the single walled Graves  3s. 6d.
       Do.       do.      in the Vaults                       5s. 0d.
And, as the rights of Sextons and Clerks connected with Parish Churches are reserved, a further additional Fee in lieu of the claim of the present Parish Clerk and Sexton of Glossop Church, will be charged in the case of all interments in the consecrated ground, from the division known as the Ecclesiastical Parish of Glossop.
An additional charge of 25 per cent will be made for single interments of persons who have not, immediately prior to their decease, been resident in the Parish, and also for graves and vaults.
Published by Order of the Board.       THOMAS M ELLISON, Clerk.

According to the burial records, the first interment was of 2 month old Charles Farroll, in Grave Number 1444 of the Roman Catholic portion of the cemetery, on 17 July 1859.

It appears that some people were still not happy, as these two letters published in the Record editions of 30 July and 6 August 1859 show:
To the Editor of the Glossop Record.
Sir,—Will you allow me to suggest to “Enquirer” the- importance of pursuing his enquiries still further, with respect to the cemetery at Allman's Heath. He has evidently not enquired, What the cemetery has cost?—What the ratepayers have paid towards the expense incurred?—Whether any money has been borrowed? and, How much?—Whether interest has to be paid?—When the principal has to he paid back?— and, Who are the parties to pay it ? He evidently needs to be informed, that the “smart taxation”, to which he refers, does not exceed a few hundred pounds, and little more than a tenth of what has been laid out; that if the parish chooses to pay for what has been done, the charges may be reduced to fees only; but that if the parish does not so choose, the parties purchasing or using graves must pay for them, and at such a rate as will afford something towards the payment of the debt. He also needs to be informed, that the charges at the Glossop Cemetery are much below the charges at cemeteries in other places : that he is in error, when he says the inhabitants have paid for the cemetery. They will have to pay for it, it graves are not sold to meet, the payments which must every year be made, until the debt is discharged. He further needs to he told, that Sexton’s charges and every other charge, except the Clergyman's or Minister's fees for service rendered, and what the Clergymen and the Sexton of Glossop Church will receive for loss of vested rights, will go to the Board, and be appropriated to expenses, and the payment of interest of money or of the debt.—I am, sir,
ONE WHO KNOWS.
Glossop, July 25th 1859.
To the Editor of the Glossop Record.
Sir,—I perceive that “Inquirer's” letter has had the effect of bringing out a correspondent of the right stamp. The answers of “One who knows,” to the questions he has collocated would be instructive; and, if he is as free as he is well-informed, he will doubtless supply the necessity he has made us feel. There are also one or two additional questions, answers to which, might, perhaps, relieve many from doubt. In the table of fees published in the Record, we find, that 25 per cent extra will be charged for the interment of persons who, immediately prior to their decease, were not resident in the parish. What are the bounds of this parish? Is it an old district to which a new name is applied? or, Is it the old ecclesiastical parish of Glossop? Or, The present ecclesiastical parish? or, Is it the eight townships? or, The Union? If any of these. Whence does the Burial Board obtain the power to order (on any condition) the interment of non-parishioners? How has the vicar of Glossop, or his sexton, acquired any “vested rights,” for which they, or either of them, can claim compensation? If they have “vested rights.” How does it happen that the ministers and sextons of other parish churches (if any,) within the parish for burials, have not “vested rights”? or, if they have, Why are they not to obtain compensation? Or, if they are to be compensated, Why is exclusive reference made to the compensation of the vicar and sexton of Glossop?—Yours, &c.,
QUERIST.

Certainly unhappy were the people of Charlesworth (or some of them, at least). This notice was published by the Record on 1 October 1859:
We have received a copy of a memorial which was forwarded some months ago from a number of ratepayers in Charlesworth, to the Home Secretary, praying to be released from payments towards the cost of the cemetery at Allman's heath, which we are requested to insert in the Record. We do not understand for what object the insertion is desired, as the Home Secretary declined taking any steps in the matter, and as many months have elapsed since the memorial was disposed of. Being fully acquainted with the grievance of which the Charlesworth people complain, and deeming the case of public interest, we have a leading article prepared on the subject, which would have appeared this week had our space permitted. The article will appear next week, supplemented by a comment on the memorial, which will be inserted.
and followed by the memorial itself the following week:
The following copy of a Memorial to the Home Secretary has been forwarded to us, with a request that it might be inserted in the Record. The case to which the Memorial refers is the subject of our leading article this week. Our comments on the Memorial, form a supplement to the article.
The Memorial of the inhabitants and ratepayers of Charlesworth, in the township of Glossop, in the County of Derby, in Vestry assembled, the fourteenth day of February, In the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, to the Right Honourable Horace Walpole, Secretary of State for the Home Department.
Sheweth, that your Memorialists are inhabitants of the township of Charlesworth (now unified for the purpose of rating and settlement, with the township of Glossop), in the county of Derby, which contained, according to the census of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, a population of one thousand seven hundred inhabitants, and is provided with a newly erected Parliamentary Church and churchyard, and several Dissenting denominations, all well provided with graveyards.
That by an order of Her Majesty‘s Privy Council dated the twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, it was directed that, with certain exceptions (from and after the first of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven), burials should be discontinued in the Parish Church of Glossop, in the Church of St. James, the Independent Chapel in the township of Littlemoor, in the said Parish (also united to Glossop for the purposes aforesaid); in the Wesleyan Chapel burial ground in the township of Hadfield, in the said Parish (also united to Glossop for the purposes aforesaid). But the order contains no direction as to any church yard or grave yard in the said township of Charlesworth; nor could it legally do so in respect of the said Church yard (see 16 and 17 Vic., c. 131, v. 3.1, which, with the Church, was established under the authority of an Act of Parliament.
That in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven a Burial Board for the township of Glossop was formed under the Act 16 and 17 Vic. and ground was purchased by the committee of such Burial Board for the purpose of a Cemetery, which purchase was sanctioned by the Right Honourable Sir George Grey, the then Secretary of State for the Home Department on the seventh day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
That the ground so purchased, and which is now being laid out as a Cemetery, is situate near the town of Glossop, at a distance of about five miles from the township of Charlesworth (where your Memorialists reside), and in a very hilly part of Glossop, and is not easy of access.
That the unoccupied grounds in the grave yards of the Church and Chapels in Charlesworth is very considerable. The yard attached to the Church, formed only a few years since, is almost empty, and those of the Chapels have a large extent of ground unused; and your Memorialists believe that such unoccupied ground will be sufficient for The accommodation of the township of Charlesworth for the next century, at the usual rate of increase of population in that locality.
The following is a list of the Church and Chapel burial grounds in Charlesworth:-
The Church burial ground; - almost empty.
The Independent Chapel burial ground; - has room for burials for the next thirty years.
The Baptist Chapel burial ground; - almost empty.
The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel ground; - the like.
The Primitive Methodist Chapel burial ground; - quite empty.
That in consequence of the great extent of unoccupied ground attached to the Churches and Chapels in the township of Charlesworth, the newly-made Cemetery would be useless to your Memorialists, and it would be a great hardship upon them to be called upon to contribute towards the expences of forming and maintaining it.
That the notice of representation of one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, required by the Art of Parliament to be posted on the doors of the Churches and Chapels of, or in some conspicuous places within the Parish of Glossop (as being effected by such representation, one month before such representation is to be considered by Her Majesty's Privy Council, was not posted on the doors of any Churches or Chapels, or any conspicuous place in the township of Charlesworth; and your Memorialists were ignorant of the proceedings which had been taken to discontinue burials and to form a Cemetery for the township of Glossop.
That if your Memorialists had received timely notice, or been aware of such proceedings, they would have opposed the incorporation of the township of Charlesworth within the district of the Glossop Burial Board.
That the first notice your Memorialists had of their township of Charlesworth being included in such district, was a demand made upon them to contribute towards the expenses required by such Burial Board, which amounts to a large sum, and for which there is no consideration accruing to their township, nor the least prospect of any.
That by Stat. 18 and 19 Vic. c. 128, v. 1, power is given to vary an Order In Council, made under any of the Burial Acts.
Your Memorialists, therefore, pray that the Order In Council which incorporates the township of Charlesworth in the district of the Glossop Burial Board may be so varied as to discharge the township of Charlesworth from such incorporation, and they will ever pray and so forth.

Map of the Cemetery layout from 1879

The questions raised in the two letters and the memorial of the people of Charlesworth appear to have received no public response from the Burial Board. Perhaps that was deemed unnecessary given the comments of the Glossop Record of 8 October 1859:
Editorial
The people of Charlesworth seem to be somewhat annoyed that they should be called upon to pay towards the expense incurred in the formation of the Cemetery at Allman's Heath; and have taken preliminary steps to rid themselves, if possible, of what they deem an unjust burden. One of the grounds on which they claim exemption is, that Charlesworth is, ecclesiastically, a distinct Parish; having its own peculiar privileges, with which the Glossop Burial Board has no right to intermeddle ; and that the demand made upon its inhabitants, to contribute towards the cost of a Cemetery out of its own boundary, is neither consonant with law nor justice. This ground of exemption is, abstractedly, untenable ; as the Burial Act overrides ecclesiastical boundaries, and provides for the formation of Cemeteries irrespective of such landmarks. It secures what are considered the “vested rights” connected with Parish and District Churches; not by fencing them against what may be regarded as intrusion, but by securing to Incumbents, Churchwardens, Clerks, and Sextons of such Churches, the same legal rights in the consecrated portions of Cemeteries, to which they are entitled in their respective churchyards. The Burial Act does not require that a churchyard shall be closed by an Order in Council, ere its provisions shall he introduced into a Parish ; but sanctions the formation of Cemeteries, with the approval of one of Her Majesty's Secretaries of State, where no order has prohibited, interments in Parish burial grounds. The Act is rather of of a civil than of an ecclesiastical character; so that any argument against its application, based on ecclesiastical arrangements, is destitute of force.
Charlesworth is, ecclesiastically, a distinct Parish : but this, in itself, does not exempt it from inclusion with the other hamlets constituting the Parish of Glossop, within the operations of the Burial Act, and the jurisdiction of the Glossop Burial Board. In the interpretation of terms, as used in the Burial Act, it is said, “The term Parish shall mean every place having separate Overseers of the Poor, and separately maintaining its own poor”. An ecclesiastical Parish is not recognized, except indirectly, in the transference of the claims of Incumbents, &c. from their respective burial grounds to the consecrated portions of Cemeteries.
Another ground on which the people of Charlesworth claim exemption from payments towards the cost of the Cemetery at Allman's Heath is, that Charlesworth is a distinct hamlet, and that it contains ample provision for the burial of its dead. This ground is much more tenable, and might have been available to the exemption desired, had proper steps been taken in due time. It, seems scarcely compatible with justice, that the ratepayers of Charlesworth should he taxed to provide a burying-place for the population of the other hamlets, or to pay towards the cost of a Cemetery in which they have no interest, or from which they are not likely to derive any advantage.
This apparent incongruity strikes the people of Charlesworth with renewed force when the Collector of Poor Rates makes a demand upon them for a higher rate than the one demanded in the adjoining hamlets of Chisworth and Ludworth; and it is not without a feeling of injustice that they pay the extra charge. If the provisions of the Burial Act had been as well understood at the time of its introduction into the Parish as they are at the present time, Charlesworth might have avoided connection with it. The Act provides for its introduction into parts of Parishes where a Cemetery is required, and tor the excepting of other parts already provided with adequate burial ground. Section 9 enacts—
“Where any of the several parishes or places under the circumstances provided for in the said enactment separately maintains its own poor or has a separate burial ground, it shall not be lawful for the Vestry, or meeting in the nature of a Vestry, of such several parishes or places, to appoint a Burial Board under the said enactment, without the approval of one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. And in case it appear to the Secretary of State that any such parish or place has a sufficient burial ground, or that otherwise it would not be expedient that the powers given by the said enactment should he exercised in relation to such parish or place, the Secretary of State may direct that such parish or place shall be excepted from the operation of the said enactment, and therefore, upon the same shall be excepted accordingly, and the inhabitants of the remaining parish or parishes, place or places, may assemble in Vestry, or in a meeting in the nature of a Vestry from time to time ; and in such Vestry or meeting may proceed in like manner under the said Acts, and this Act in all respects as if the inhabitants of such last mentioned parish or parishes, place or places, exclusively, had a Vestry for their common purpose, and were wholly unconnected with the parish or place so excepted”.
The Glossop Burial Board appears to have been formed without any restriction or exemption, and, in its unrestricted character, to have received the approval of one Her Majesty’s Secretaries of State. This being the case, its jurisdiction extends over the Parish, as defined in the Burial Act, which is, “every place having separate Overseers of the Poor, and separately maintaining its own poor”.The general character of the proceedings at the Vestry Meeting, when the Board was appointed, must have arisen from ignorance of the section in the Burial Act for excepting places already provided with burial ground, and for empowering the unexcepted places to form a Vestry tor the purpose of carrying out the general provisions of the Act, in relation to the formation of a Vestry for the population within their own limits. If the Vestry Meeting originally held for the appointment of a Burial Board had specified over which hamlets its jurisdiction should extend, it would have been limited according to such specification ; and it is not likely that Charlesworth, having so good a plea for exemption, would have been included. Or, if the Charlesworth people had in due time claimed exemption it is not probable that either the Vestry or the Secretary of State would have desired its inclusion. As it is, however, the Glossop Burial Board has no power to grant exemption to Charlesworth. It forms part of the Parish of Glossop and unless any specific exception is granted is as liable to the rates of the Parish, as outlying streets within a Borough are liable to borough rates. If Charlesworth, like the united hamlets of Chisworth and Ludworth, had been a separate township appointing its own overseers and maintaining its own poor, it would, like them, have been without the jurisdiction of the Glossop Board ; but, being part of Glossop township, or Parish, and no exception having been claimed or made in its favour it is liable to be called upon to pay towards the expense incurred in the formation of the Cemetery. This, we apprehend, is a fair statement of the case between the ratepayers of Charlesworth and the Glossop Burial Board. We sympathise with the Charlesworth people, but we cannot see how the grievance of which they complain is to be redressed. The Home Secretary, to whom a memorial has been addressed does not appear to us to have any power in the matter. Exemption should have been claimed before the approval of a Burial Board for the Parish of Glossop was given. Such approval having been given and acted upon, we cannot see how it is to be reversed. The Poor Law Board which has also been memorialised, does not seem to us to have any jurisdiction in the case. The legal gentlemen to whom application has been made for advice may, perhaps, suggest a mode for obtaining redress; but we regard the matter as hopeless, the opportunity of avoiding the grievance of which complaint is made having been suffered to pass away. The Charlesworth people knew, at least, by report, that the Burial Act was likely to be introduced into Glossop, and of the connection of Charlesworth with the hamlets composing Glossop-dale ; but they never thought of seeking exemption until it was too late, and the rate collector demanded an addition of 4d. in the pound, over and above the demand on Chisworth and Ludworth ; so that they have to take blame to themselves rather than to throw it upon others.
Though we cannot hold out any hope of relief to the Charlesworth people, we can, perhaps, say something to afford them a little ease under their burden. The people of Charlesworth have equal claims and rights, in relation to the Cemetery at Allman's Heath, with the people of the other seven hamlets. The clergyman at Charlesworth has equal rights with the other clergymen in the Parish, and the Dissenting Ministers of Charles worth are on an equality with the other Dissenting Ministers of the Parish; so that if Charlesworth bears its part of the burden, it has full participation in rights and privileges, if disposed to use them. Though the Cemetery may, for some years to come, be a little burdensome, the burden will gradually become lighter; and in the course of time, Allman's Heath will be a source of revenue, when Charlesworth, along with the other hamlets, will share in the profits—by a reduction of rates equal to such profits.
The probability is, that, the Cemetery will ultimately return to the Parish very much more than it has cost The present rates may be regarded as an investment, which will yield an adequate return. Were Charlesworth exempt from present payments, it must of course be exempt from all future profits and be rated higher in time to come than the hamlets at the expense of which the profits would have been purchased.
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The Memorial of the inhabitant ratepayers of Charlesworth (inserted in another column) is, in many respects, a loose and inaccurate composition. It states that by the Order in Council interments are prohibited in St. James's churchyard, Whitfield: whereas, the Order only prohibits interments within nine feet of the walls of the Church. It asserts “that the Order in Council could not legally contain any directions in relation to Charlesworth churchyard ; because, along with the Church, it was established under the authority of an Act of Parliament”. This assertion is incorrect. The exception, according to the decision of the Lord Chief Justice Campbell, does not include churchyards, but refers to Cemeteries established by Act of Parliament. The Order did contain a direction in relation to Whitfield churchyard, which was, equally with Charlesworth, established by Act of Parliament; and if in the one case, why not in the other? By an Order in Council, interments in Charlesworth churchyard would be as effectively prohibited as in the churchyard at Glossop. The Memorial further states, “that all the Chapels in Charlesworth are well supplied with burial grounds." That the village of Charlesworth is so supplied, is correct: but there are only two yards which deserve the name of burial grounds. Of the others mentioned in the Memorial, one is not in Charlesworth ; and the remaining two have only a very small space of land around them, apparently not designed for burial ground. Attempting to prove too much, is as injurious to a cause, as proving too little. The Memorial complains of the incorporation of Charlesworth with the other hamlets as though it had been added to them to bring it under the jurisdiction of the Burial Board. The fact is, Charlesworth was previously incorporated with the other hamlets. What was required was not incorporation, but separation, so as to exclude it from the provisions of the Burial Act. This separation and exclusion the people of Charlesworth did not seek, when they might have been obtained. The Memorial prays “that the Order in Council, which incorporated the township of Charlesworth in the district of the Glossop Burial Board, may be so varied as to discharge the township of Charlesworth from such incorporation. Charlesworth never was incorporated with the hamlets of Glossop by any Order in Council. The Order in Council was issued only in relation to the partial or total closing of burial grounds; and had nothing whatever to do with the appointing of any places or district which should come under the Burial Act. Such appointment rested with the Vestry, subject to the approval of one of Her Majesty's Secretaries of State. We do not make these remarks with any unfriendly feeling towards the people of Charlesworth: but as the Memorial was forwarded to us for insertion, we deemed it due to our readers to point out its inaccuracies, and explain the true state of the case.

Any controversy appears to have then petered out, the final mention of the cemetery in 1859 (12 November) being:
Vestry Meeting
Pursuant to notice duly given, a meeting was held in the Vestry of the Parish Church, Glossop, on Monday afternoon last, at four o'clock, for the purpose of filling up the vacancies in the Burial Board, occasioned by the requirement, as required by law, of three of the members; and for appointing auditors of the accounts of the said Board. The attendance was not large. The Rev J. C. Jackson, vicar, occupied the chair. Mr. T. M. Ellison performed the duties of Vestry Clerk. It was moved by the Rev. T. Atkin, and seconded by Mr. W. Mitchell, and carried unanimously,— “That the three retiring members of the Board, the Rev. J. C. Jackson, Mr. Samuel Taylor, and Mr. William Platt, be re-elected members of the Glossop Burial Board ; and that Mr. M. T. Moody, of Dinting. and Mr. Samuel Robinson, grocer, of Howardtown, be appointed auditors of the accounts of the said Board”.—The Board consists of nine members: The Revrds. J. C. Jackson and T. Atkin, Messrs. Samuel Wood, Wm. Shepley, Wm. Platt, Samuel Taylor, Francis Hawke, Geo. Cresswell, and Francis Sumner, Esq.

1860 brought happier news with the consecration of the Catholics' portion of the Cemetery, reported on 9 June:
Consecration of the Catholic Cemetery.—On Saturday morning, the Catholic portion of the cemetery at Allman's Heath was solemnly consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Nottingham, the Right. Rev. R. Roskell, D.D. His lordship arrived at the cemetery about eleven o'clock, and, having rested, proceeded to deliver an address to those assembled in the mortuary chapel, on the resurrection of the dead, in which he remarked that their hope and belief in the resurrection of the dead was connected with their belief in a communion of saints; that the Church was all one, whether in heaven, on earth, or yet detained in a middle state of purgation; and that we followed the dead with affectionate prayers beyond the tomb. He then proceeded to the consecration of the ground, followed by his secretary, the clergy (the Rev. Canon Fauvel, the Rev. Bryan O'Donnel, and the Rev. J. O’Reilly), and many of the congregation. After making the circuit of the cemetery, saying alternately the proper psalms with the clergy, and repairing to the four crosses placed at each side of the ground, according to the ritual of the church, with the prayers and rites prescribed for such occasion, he completed the consecration.

And a week later, almost a year after the opening, the Record published these figures:
Cemetery.—The following numbers are the numbers of interments which have taken place in Glossop Cemetery since it was first opened, from among the different religious bodies: — Church, 18; Dissenters, 54; Catholics, 48; total, 120.

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Last updated: 2 October 2020