Photographs Of Newcastle: St Andrews Cemetery

In 1854 the Burial Board of Jesmond merged with St. Andrew to form a joint board. In April 1855 the Burial Board agreed to purchase ground for a cemetery from the Hospital of St Mary Magdelene. The designer was Middleton and Prichett of Darlington.

The first burials took place in 1857. Initially known as St Andrew's and Jesmond Cemetery the name is given as St Andrew's Cemetery on the 1861 Ordnance Survey map. The cemetery is one of the first four mid-19th century Burial Board cemeteries in Newcastle upon Tyne. The cemetery is still in use and is in the ownership of Newcastle City Council.

The cemetery is organised using a system of imaginary squares laid out on the landscape to designate burial plots. An early map of the cemetery illustrates the lettering system for these squares and plots would be numbered so that they might be identified as T10 for example. Sometimes numbers might occur on stones set into the cemetery ground but more often the letters were merely painted onto the walls.

The cemetery is 4.1 hectare and is bounded by 1.5 metres high stone walls lined with trees and shrubs. The principle entrance is on the western boundary. The square piers have incised inscriptions 'St Andrew's and Jesmond Cemetery'. The drive terminates at a semi-circular carriage turn and entrance lodge. At the head of the drive is a porte-cochere with low Tudor-style arches.

The lodge is in random stone with ashlar dressings. There is a second entrance from the east marked by 19th century wrought iron gates and stone piers. This is not marked on the 1861 Ordnance Survey so is a later 19th century addition. There is a 20th century service access from the north.

There are two chapels, one Nonconformist, the other Church of England. They are Gothic in design, in random stone with ashlar dressings and slate roofs. Each has a gabled entrance porch and short tower. The towers may have been altered, with the top section removed.

The cemetery is divided by a circuit of paths. It includes many mature trees. It contains a variety of monuments including Celtic crosses and tall obelisks. In the south-west corner of the cemetery is a large canopied Barawitzka memorial with Egyptian-style columns dating from 1936.

Description courtesy of Sitelines.

26th May 2023

Tankerville Terrace Entrance.

Grave of Gaustavo Barawitzka.

Gustavo Barawitzka (1856-1936) was the founder and proprietor of the Criterion Restaurant in Market Street. He arrived on Tyneside from Italy in the 1870s and obtained British nationality in 1901. In 1891 he organised a banquet to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the storming of Rome which led to the unification of Italy. His impressive monument is in classical style and stands in the south-west corner of the cemetery.

Source: Sitelines

Commonwealth War Grave.

S51860 Gunner J. Mackey

Cross of Sacrifice.

The war memorial in St Andrews Cemetery is located next to the tombs of servicemen who died during the first and second world wars. It is a fine example of the ‘sacrifice style’, a stone cross of sacrifice of octagonal design stands tall upon a stepped octagonal plinth. There is an iron sword inlaid in the centre of the cross. An inscription is carved into the plinth commemorating those from the area who died in the wars.

Source: Sitelines

Nonconformist Mortuary Chapel.

The two small Victorian chapels in St Andrew’s cemetery are of asymmetric design. They are not identical although they are built in the same style and use the same materials, stone and natural slate. Similarities are found in the two buildings’ use of ornate stonework and the symbols on the roofs.

Source: Sitelines