Details
A public cemetery laid out in 1855-7 with designs for buildings and layout by Middleton and Pritchett, possibly modified by Pritchett.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
In 1854 the Burial Board of Jesmond merged with St Andrew's to form a joint board. In April 1855 the Burial Board agreed to purchase land for a burial ground from the Master and Brethren of the Hospital of St Mary Magdelene and advertised in local newspapers for plans and estimates (Burial Board Minutes, April 1855). Plans were received on 1 May 1855 (ibid) and the first prize awarded to Middleton and Pritchett of Darlington (The Builder, 9 June 1855). Pritchett (James Pigott Pritchett 1789-1868) attended a meeting of the Burial Board on 15 May 1855 and agreed that the designs would be modified, without charge, if tenders exceeded his estimates (Minutes). Pritchett's work was to include chapels (Design no 1), a lodge, stone walls to three sides of the site, rainwater drainage from the buildings, and planting, this last estimated at £300 (ibid). Plans for site drainage were to be prepared by Robert Walters who was also to superintend these works (ibid).
In July 1855 The Builder (14 July 1855) reported that the Bishop of Durham had objected to the chapels at St Andrew's unless they were sited over 100 feet (c 30m) apart and a meeting of all the Newcastle Burial Boards appointed a deputation to see the Bishop with plans of all the cemeteries to 'effect a friendly arrangement'. The chapels at St Andrew's are c 75m apart and it is presumed that this is a modification of the original proposal. 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 c 1861 OS map.
St Andrew's Cemetery is one of the first four mid-C19 Burial Board cemeteries formed in Newcastle upon Tyne. The others are St John's (qv) (Johnstone and Knowles 1856-7), All Saints', Jesmond (Benjamin and John Green 1857), and St Nicholas' (Archibald Dunn 1858). James Pigott Pritchett designed the buildings and layout at York Cemetery (qv) in 1836-7 and for a time worked in partnership with his son-in-law, John Middleton. From the mid 1850s his practice, Pritchett and Sons, became established nationally in the field of public cemetery design.
St Andrew's Cemetery remains (2002) in use and in the ownership of Newcastle upon Tyne City Council.
DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING
The c 4.1ha cemetery is located at Jesmond and is c 1.5km north of Newcastle upon Tyne city centre. The roughly rectangular site adjoins Tankerville Terrace (formerly an unnamed track, OS c 1861) to the east, a school to the south, and a further school and residential properties on Fairfield Road to the north. All of these boundaries are marked by c 1.5m high random-stone walls with splayed ashlar copings. To the west the site adjoins allotment gardens to the north of the approach drive and a school playing field to the south of the drive. The western boundary is marked by a low stone wall topped by mid-C19 railings, these divided by square stone piers with low, stepped pyramidal caps. All boundaries are partially lined with mature trees with the eastern and western boundaries also partially lined with evergreen shrubs.
Ground within the cemetery is generally level. The surrounding area to the north, east, and south is largely residential with housing generally dating from the late-C19. Some 160m west of the cemetery is the Great North Road, leading north-north-west and beyond this, to the west, is the large open space of Town Moor.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES
The principal entrance lies at the centre of the western boundary with a c 8m wide approach drive leading east-north-east for 160m from the Great North Road where the junction is marked by a pair of low stone piers. The square piers with gabled caps have incised inscriptions, now (2002) worn, with that to the south reading 'St Andrew's and Jesmond Cemetery'. To the east the approach drive terminates at a semicircular carriage turn immediately west of an entrance lodge. At the head of the drive the lodge incorporates a porte-cochère with low Tudor-style arches with drip moulds which gives access into the cemetery. The lodge is in random stone with ashlar dressings below steep, blue fish-scale slated gable roofs. A tall first-floor gable above the porte-cochère is adjoined to the north by a slightly larger gable wing, with canted ground-floor bays to the west elevation, and to the south by a one and a half-storey wing with low eaves and small first-floor dormers. The porte-cochère is axial with a main drive dividing the cemetery from west to east. The arrangement of the approach drive and entrance lodge are as indicated on the c 1861 OS map. The design of the lodge dates from 1855 and is by Middleton and Pritchett with possible later amendment by Pritchett.
A second entrance at the centre of the eastern boundary with Tankerville Terrace is also axial with the main drive. This entrance is slightly set back from the road, is flanked by quadrant returns in the boundary wall, and is marked by C19 wrought-iron gates flanked by stone piers with gabled caps. This entrance is not indicated on the 1861 OS map and appears to be a later C19 addition.
At the centre of the northern boundary is a service access from the head of Brentwood Avenue. This entrance is marked by late-C20 gates and is an addition of similar date.
PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS
Some 70m east of the principal entrance two cross-axial paths lead off the main drive to north and south forming approaches to the Nonconformist and Church of England chapels respectively. The chapels are sited 75m apart and this arrangement is very probably an amendment of the original design proposal resulting from the objection of the Bishop of Durham. The small Gothic-style chapels, of similar design, are in random stone with ashlar dressings below blue fish-scale slate roofs and each has a gabled entrance porch and a short tower. The nave of the northern chapel is orientated north/south and that of the southern chapel east/west. The design of the chapels dates from 1855 and is by Middleton and Pritchett with possible later amendment by Pritchett. The towers may have been altered at a later date with top sections removed.
OTHER LAND
From the principal entrance an axial, partially tree-lined main drive leads c 250m eastwards to the entrance from Tankerville Terrace thus dividing the cemetery from east to west. From each of these entrances a pair of paths lead off north and south to form a perimeter circuit. Within this circuit the burial ground is divided, c 130m east of the principal entrance, by a formal cross-axial path and, c 70m east of the principal entrance, by the cross-axial chapel approaches. From each of the chapels a pair of informal paths leads to junctions with the perimeter path. The c 1861 OS map indicates the main axial drive, cross-axial approaches to the chapels, and a gently winding perimeter circuit.
The cemetery contains a number of mature trees, many of which appear to be remnants of trees lining the main drives and boundaries, a feature indicated on the early OS map. The cemetery contains a variety of monuments, including Celtic crosses and tall obelisks. Of particular note, in the south-west corner of the cemetery, is the large canopied Barawitzka memorial with Egyptian-style columns dating from c 1936.
REFERENCES
The Builder 13, no 644 (9 June 1855), 275
Brooks C, Mortal Remains (1989), 52, 66
Green F , A Guide to the Historic Parks and Gardens of Tyne and Wear (1995), 30
Maps
OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1864
OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published c 1861
Archival items
St Andrew's and Jesmond Burial Board Minutes 1853-77, vol 1 (BB/AJ/1/1) (Tyne and Wear Archive Service)
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
St Andrew's Cemetery is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* An early High Victorian (1855-57) public cemetery for a provincial city in formal grid-pattern style.
* Designs for buildings and layout were provided by Middleton and James Pigott Pritchett, possibly modified by Pritchett.
* The Gothic chapels form two focal points in the design to enliven a level site.
* Social interest is expressed in a variety of C19 monuments, most of which are relatively modest.
* It is one of the first four mid-C19 Burial Board cemeteries formed in Newcastle upon Tyne. The others are St John's (qv) (Johnstone and Knowles 1856-7), All Saints', Jesmond (Benjamin and John Green 1857), and St Nicholas' (Archibald Dunn 1858). Pritchett designed the buildings and layout at York Cemetery (qv) in 1836-7, and Darlington 1856-58, qv) and for a time worked in partnership with his son-in-law, John Middleton. From the mid 1850s his practice, Pritchett and Sons, became established nationally in the field of public cemetery design.
* Although most the planting has gone, the cemetery layout and structures survive intact.
Description written: December 2002
Register Inspector: HMT
Edited: December 2009
