Southern Cemetery, Manchester is a large municipal cemetery in Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Chorlton-cum-Hardy

Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of the city of Manchester, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Pronunciation varies: and are both common....

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, England, three miles south of Manchester city centre

Manchester City Centre

Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...

: it was opened in 1879. (It was then in the Withington Local Board District and from 1894 to 1904 in Withington Urban District.)

The main area of the cemetery is located to the north of Barlow Moor Road and to the west of the A5103 Princess Road

A5103 road

The A5103 is a major road in England. It runs from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre to junction 3 of the M56 motorway and is one of Manchester's principal radial routes.- A6 to the A57 motorway :...

; a northwards extension is situated to the north of Nell Lane. Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...

 owns and administers the cemetery. There is a Jewish Cemetery in the northwest section, next to Barlow Moor Road and a Muslim section adjacent to it: the rest of the area of the cemetery is divided into plots for particular classes of person, e.g., Anglicans, Roman Catholics, others. A war memorial stands here to commemorate Allied servicemen who died in the World Wars: many of them died in the two military hospitals in south Manchester (i.e. those at Grangethorpe Road, Fallowfield, and Nell Lane, West Didsbury).

Immediately adjacent to the northwest corner of the cemetery, also on Barlow Moor Road, is the Manchester Crematorium which opened in 1892, the second in the United Kingdom.

Buildings

Three service chapels are located in Southern Cemetery, only one of which is currently used for funeral services. The remaining two chapels are semi-derelict. As use of the chapel is infrequent (due in most part, to the huge decline in the burial rate during the last century), it is unlikely that either of these two chapels will be returned to their originally intended function in the foreseeable future.

A remembrance lodge has been created in the cemetery, opened on 1 October 2008. It is situated at the main entrance on Barlow Moor Road and is for the use of families and friends wishing to pay their respects and remember loved ones.

Notable burials

A number of famous people are buried in the cemetery, including Manchester-born Sir John Alcock, the first man to pilot a non-stop transatlantic aircraft (with Arthur Whitten Brown

Arthur Whitten Brown

Sir Arthur Whitten Brown KBE was the navigator of the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight.-Life and work:...

 as navigator) from Newfoundland to Clifden

Clifden

Clifden is a town on the coast of County Galway, Ireland and being Connemara's largest town, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". It is located on the Owenglen River where it flows into Clifden Bay...

 Ireland in June 1919. Manchester's first multi-millionaire, industrialist and philanthropist John Rylands

John Rylands

John Rylands was an English entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He was the owner of the largest textile manufacturing concern in the United Kingdom, and Manchester's first multi-millionaire....

, is also buried there. The Rylands memorial is the grandest in the cemetery, although parts of the original structure have had to be removed: his widow Enriqueta

Enriqueta Augustina Rylands

Enriqueta Augustina Rylands was the founder of the John Rylands Library, Manchester.Born in Havana, Cuba, she was one of five children including José Esteban , Blanca Catalina and Leocadia Fernanda...

's ashes lie in the vault below. The graves of some of those associated with the firm of Rylands are nearby, including those of Reuben Spencer and William Carnelley.

Some of Manchester's famous footballing names are also buried in the cemetery, including Sir Matt Busby

Matt Busby

Sir Alexander Matthew "Matt" Busby, CBE, KCSG was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–1971 season...

, manager of Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 from 1945 to 1971. He was buried there after his death on 20 January 1994, alongside his wife Jean, who died just over five years earlier. Billy Meredith

Billy Meredith

William Henry "Billy" Meredith was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he...

, who played for both Manchester City and Manchester United, is also buried in the cemetery.

Stretford-born artist L. S. Lowry

L. S. Lowry

Laurence Stephen Lowry was an English artist born in Barrett Street, Stretford, Lancashire. Many of his drawings and paintings depict nearby Salford and surrounding areas, including Pendlebury, where he lived and worked for over 40 years at 117 Station Road , opposite St...

 was buried next to his parents in 1976. Factory Records

Factory Records

Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...

 founder Tony Wilson

Tony Wilson

Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....

 is also buried there; his coffin carries the catalogue number FAC501; a headstone designed by Peter Saville

Peter Saville

Peter Saville is an English art director and graphic designer. During the 1980s, he designed many record sleeves for Factory Records.-Early life:Peter Saville was born in Manchester.Saville attended St Ambrose College...

and Ben Kelly was installed in October 2010.

External links

• Genuki account of Southern Cemetery