NOT far from the city walls is a haven of peace.
It’s a wildlife park, it’s a historic site, it’s a three-times platinum award winner.
It’s York Cemetery.
Established privately in 1837, closed in 1969, it was saved from ruin by volunteers in 1987. They rebuilt the Grade II listed Chapel and reopened a working cemetery.
As a burial ground, it has records of 124,000 interments and the volunteer genealogy team regularly helps York residents and people from all over the world to trace their ancestors.
It’s a burial ground and an official Commonwealth War Graves site, where a ceremony with the Royal British Legion marks each Remembrance Day.
It’s a cultural centre as well. The chapel is used for funerals and memorials, but there are concerts and exhibitions too.
This month, The Barberellas – five singing ladies – return to entertain on Sunday May 19. There is a Craft Fair in June and more music from the choruses Main Street Sound and Spirit of Harmony.
Alongside all this, there are regular weekend walks visiting the memorials of past Lord Mayors, notable publicans or military heroes.
The grave of Richard Chicken, the original inspiration for Charles Dickens’ Wilkins Micawber, is here. There’s a bat night and a butterfly walk, and if you go beyond the fernery into some of the more peaceful, remote and wilder areas you may see a rabbit or a fox or a hedgehog. Far from traffic and footfall, it’s a haven for wildlife.
York Cemetery can be a place of solitude and sadness, but there’s music too as part of the cultural programme in the Chapel.
The Barberellas are a five-piece acapella outfit who delight audiences across Yorkshire and beyond with their close harmony wit and wisdom.
They deliver jazz, barbershop, pop, folk and blues favourites, interspersed with self-written songs exploring nature, contemporary issues and stories from their own experiences They’ll fill the Cemetery Chapel with a lively programme of both much-loved and new material on Sunday, May 19 at 4pm. Then, on Sunday, June 9, the focus is firmly on barbershop with a return visit from Main Street Sound and Spirit of Harmony. With music ranging from musicals to pop, ballads to parody, you’ll enjoy a true variety of songs and styles.
Main Street Sound is York’s Ladies Barbershop Chorus. They regularly perform local concerts and “sing outs”, and have recently competed in Harrogate and Spain. Spirit of Harmony (more formally known as Vale of York Barbershop Harmony Club) is a men’s acapella singing group performing an extensive range of songs from the Beatles to Broadway. They have fun and keep healthy by entertaining audiences at concerts, competitions or in the pub after rehearsal.
Also on the Cemetery music scene is the annual carol concert. This year it will be on December 13 with guest artists to be announced. There will be entertainment, hot fruit punch and home-made mince pies. Since this event became so popular it now has to be by ticket only! Other musical events are planned.
York Cemetery is a charity operated by a trust with a small permanent staff. The manager coordinates the funeral business supported by the team of ground staff including expert stonemasons.
Groups from city businesses and an army of volunteers give their time to ensure that the cemetery is always in good order and welcoming to the public.
York Cemetery is open to all every day from 10am to 6pm in the summer.
Friends of York Cemetery chair, Clive Dawson said: “There’s so much here and yet so few people in York seem to know about it.”
Now you do. Why not visit soon?
Find out more:
Contact: admin@yorkcemetery.org.uk
Tel: 01904 610578
W: www.yorkcemetery.org.uk
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