Western Entrance Gates to Arnos Vale Cemetery

Details

List description amended on 18-JAN-2008

BRISTOL

901-1/47/450 CEMETERY ROAD 04-MAR-77 BRISLINGTON (South side) WESTERN ENTRANCE GATES TO ARNOS VALE C EMETERY (Formerly listed as: BATH ROAD BRISLINGTON ARNO'S VALE CEMETERY, ENTRANCE GATES F ROM CEMETERY ROAD)

GV II

Also Known As: WESTERN ENTRANCE GATES TO ARNOS VALE CEMETERY, BATH ROAD, BRISLINGTON A gateway, consisting of three gatepiers and two short lengths of flanking wall, dating from the mid-C19.

MATERIALS: The piers and walls are of Pennant stone and brick, and the gates of iron.

EXTERIOR: There are two wide openings and a smaller pedestrian entrance to the south. The gates are between square section coped piers with low plinths. The gates to the wide openings are C19 iron gates with spear tops and segmental-arched bracing towards the bottom. The gate to the pedestrian entrance dates from the C20. To the north runs a short length of stone rubble wall with brick capping, which ends at its junction with a C20 brick outbuilding to the adjacent house. To the south is a fragment of the original wall which is of similar construction to the northern wall.

HISTORY: In the late C18 the land which was to be developed as Arnos Vale Cemetery probably formed part of the estate associated with Arnos Court, a mansion built by William Reeves, a Bristol copper merchant (c.1760-5). Reeves became bankrupt in 1774, and his estate was divided and sold. During the early C19 a villa, known as Arno's Vale, was constructed to the west of Arnos Court and within the area subsequently developed as Arnos Vale Cemetery. The villa was situated towards the north-eastern corner of the site with an entrance approximately on the site of the present principal entrance to the cemetery.

By the mid C19 the burial grounds attached to the City's churches were essentially full. In 1837 the Bristol General Cemetery Company was formed and petitioned Parliament for an Act to enable the formation of a general cemetery in the vicinity of the City. Following the granting of the Act, the Company proceeded to purchase the Arnos Vale Estate and in 1838 demolished the villa and commissioned plans for the laying out of the site and the construction of walls, lodges and chapels from Charles Underwood (c.1791-1883). This work appears to have been completed by October 1840 when the Anglican section of the cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. It was not until 1855 when the City churchyards were finally closed that the cemetery began to see a significant rise in the number of interments. Between 1855 and 1880 the Company extended the area used for burials to encompass the whole estate purchased in 1837. A second Act of Parliament obtained in 1880 enabled the Company to purchase additional land to the south of the original cemetery. A further extension was purchased in 1891. The western portion of this ground was laid out by 1904, while the remainder had been appropriated for burials by c.1944 (OS, 1944). To cater for changing fashion, a crematorium, cloister and columbarium were designed by H G Laing of Lincoln's Inn, London in 1927. These structures, together with a garden of rest, were developed around the C19 Nonconformists' chapel in 1927-9, and continued in use until 1998. The site was sold for redevelopment but local people mobilised to form a group of Friends which lobbied for the retention of the cemetery as a burial ground with public access, and the site was subsequently compulsorily purchased by the local authority with the Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust, which is now responsible for its management.

The western entrance dates from the mid-C19, during the second phase of the development of the cemetery, and forms the secondary entrance to the site.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The western entrance to Arnos Vale Cemetery is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: * The gateway is a substantially intact mid-C19 entrance way to this nationally significant cemetery, which retains its original stone piers and wrought iron gates * Group value with the many listed buildings within the cemetery * The attached boundary wall is included from the gates to the adjacent brick outbuilding to the north, and to the breach in the wall immediately to the south * Beyond these stretches, the boundary walls are not of special interest, with the exception of the screen walls to the northern entrance to the site, which are separately listed at Grade II*

Listing NGR: ST6047371347

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

379099

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic interest in England, Part 1 Avon,

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