Bradford's Living Dead
Ann Hills on the salvation of Undercliffe Cemetery, a Victorian necropolis
Undercliffe Cemetery, where Bradford's wool merchants, mayors and paupers are buried, was nearly lost a decade ago. In the mid 1970s the cemetery company went into liquidation and Undercliffe, which had opened in 1854 and has been considered as the northern equivalent of Highgate Cemetery, faced a sorry future. A developer bought the site in 1980 for a mere £5, although, in that year, Country Life described its twenty-five acres as 'a historic landscape of rare quality, containing many monuments of both historic and architectural value'.
The Friends of Undercliffe Cemetery were formed with the backing of the local Telegraph and Argus and eventually, Bradford Metropolitan Council made a compulsory purchase, installed a Manpower Services scheme, and allowed a new company, consisting of representatives from the Friends, from Pennine Heritage, local residents and the Council, to take over. The new era, reached a climax in June this year when the project won a £2,500 prize in the It's my City BBC Television competition.
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