Bootle Cemetery is 31 .75 acres of land, which was purchased on the 12th January 1909. Initially 25 acres were laid out for Church of England, Non-Conformist and Roman Catholic internments.
The land was consecrated in October 1911 by Bishop Chevasse of Liverpool and was officially opened to the public on January 1st 1912 by Alderman J. W. E. Smith, the Mayor of Bootle, for the burial of people of Bootle and Orrell.
Before the Second World War, the Cemetery stretched as far as the railings of Aspinall’s Field. (There was no Menai Road in those days).
Three gateway entrances gave access from Linacre Lane (the main gate), Orrell Road and Watts Lane junction and the end of the Isolation Hospital wall (now Menai Road).
The Little Chapel opened its doors during June 1915. The ceremonial opening was performed by Alderman G. A. Cassady, the then Mayor of Bootle.
The keeper of the Cemetery for many years was a Mr Hesketh, who used to blow a whistle 5 minutes before closing time.
At first the grounds were used for Protestant burials but as Ford Cemetery began to fill, a section was allocated to Roman Catholic burials at the corner of Menai Road/Watts Lane.
During the Second War the corner adjoining the isolation Hospital was used as allotment space, to grow vegetables for the War effort.
The Cemetery contains 3 mass graves.
One contains the remains of Protestant victims of the war, the second Roman Catholic victims (mostly unidentified due to mutilation or with no living dependants to identify them), and the third is the result of transferring the remains from St. Mary’s graveyard in Church St, Irlam Rd, Bootle.
For persons with no particular church connection, visiting Clergy conducted services in the Little Chapel.
31 авг 2022
