Buried beneath our feet lies a tapestry of Cambridge history at Histon Road Cemetery. This tranquil green space holds stories of lives intertwined with the city’s past. Histon Road Cemetery was established in 1843. It was created by the Nonconformist community for people of all religious persuasions. This cemetery had no ties to any church or parish.
John Claudius Loudon designed Histon Road Cemetery. He was a leading Victorian garden designer. Histon Road is the best surviving example of his cemetery design work. Loudon was a very influential horticultural journalist. He was one of the first professional cemetery designers. Histon Road Cemetery is Grade 2* listed by Historic England. Only three cemeteries in England were designed by Loudon.
The first burial at Histon Road Cemetery was William Bell. He surveyed the ground for the cemetery. His sister Alice was the namesake of Alice Springs in Australia. The cemetery embodies Loudon’s most important ideas on cemetery design. It is an early example of the grid pattern layout. Many later cemeteries adopted this design.
Edward Buckton Lamb designed the buildings. Lamb was an associate of Loudon. He worked as a draughtsman for Loudon in the 1830s. The buildings comprised a chapel and a lodge. The chapel was demolished in the 1950s. The lodge is now a private residence. Joseph Romilly’s diary mentioned the chapel’s elegant stained windows. James Rattee created a memorial in the chapel for Ebenezer Foster and his wife Elizabeth.
Histon Road Cemetery was one of the first British cemeteries open to all. The Cambridge Cemetery Company initially owned the cemetery. Robert Peters set up the company in 1842. The company’s policy had no religious conditions on burials. The Borough of Cambridge took control in 1935. Cambridge City Council has run the cemetery since 2007. They work with the Friends of Histon Road Cemetery.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the graves of war service personnel here. There are twelve from World War I. There are six from World War II. Over 8000 burials have taken place at Histon Road Cemetery. Lucy Joan Slater created a listing of monumental inscriptions. It is deposited at the Cambridge Record Office.
Among those interred are notable figures. Mary Bateson was a historian. Charles Edmund Brock was an artist. Albert George Dew-Smith co-founded the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company. Alfredo Kanthack was a Brazilian microbiologist. William Fiddian Moulton was a scholar. Henry Wiles was a sculptor.
Approximately 2,500 children are buried at Histon Road Cemetery. Of those 1,500 were under the age of one. The main entrance is off Histon Road. It is next to a Victorian Period Lodge. A common pathway connects this entrance to Victoria Road. Local residents frequently use this path.
Histon Road Cemetery is closed to new burials. However ashes can sometimes be interred in existing graves. There must be a family link. We remember local lives lost in war every year with a service. As you leave Histon Road Cemetery consider the many lives that rest here. Each grave represents a story and a connection to Cambridge.