Philips Park Cemetery, Manchester

[PaulJC]

Hi All,

Many of my relatives were buried in Philips Park Cemetery, Manchester. I have tried to locate some of their headstones only to be told that many were removed and the areas grassed over. I also have a record of a relative having been buried there as recently as 2002. My questions are:
When were most of the graves removed and how did the authorities decide what to leave?
Is the cemetery still in use?
What actually remains?
Regards,
Paul

[stanmapstone]

Judging by this Streetview there are many gravestones https://goo.gl/maps/J3kW3avqj4S2
Aerial view https://goo.gl/maps/etfodxs8J9o
See https://secure.manchester.gov.uk/directory_record/270210/philips_park_cemetery
Stan

[Viktoria]

When the little office closed the actual records of each grave went to Blakeley  Cemetery.I am speaking of the actual,,hand drawn and coloured
plans of each area,showing the. religions ,rows and numbers which could be cross referenced with the registers.
Wonderful but what is available nowadays I do not know.
Worth a try.
As far as I can tell Blakeley Cemetery is  in Victoria Avenue.
Viktoria.

[uk2003]

Hi Paul

I was told many years ago that the only graves moved were from D section of CofE due to the widening of Alan Turing Way, moved to ? (I may stand corrected at some point)
Other sections did have the headstones removed years ago again when they became unstable, but it would not surprise me if they cleared areas in a cost saving thing. Nowadays they just push the headstone over usually facedown, cost again.
Locating graves in PP can be hit and miss as they are not all in sequence so plot plans do help.
PP is still open for new burials but very limited I think to N/C between E & O sections and grave reopenings.

Ken   

[Viktoria]

Sadly the graves moved for road widening were those of stillborn and neo natal deaths.
The families were promised the re interments would be orderly etc,but It seems that was not the case.
 Very sad.
You can bring the plot plans up ,there was a similar topic some time ago and
the plans came up but as has been said one plot as far as I remember was split,very confusing.
Have a go at bringing them up and best of luck in your search
Viktoria.

[PaulJC]

Thanks all for the information.
If I get over to Manchester I will have a walk through the park. Although I have been in the area it will be almost 50 years since I last set foot in PP and remember being taken on the boating lake and then walking through to where the power station and cooling towers were sited.

[Viktoria]

Be careful, the last time we went there were Police all over the place as big match at the stadium.
The Police Officer explained how the cemetery was now being used, Well mis  used.
Drug dealing ,dog fighting etc.
They allowed  us in as the grave I needed info from was very close to the big entrance,just behind the office. They gave us five minutes or so.
I knew exactly where it was but being a bit secluded yes, there was horrible evildence of either a dog fight or a fox torn to pieces.
We left and the Officer  explained  how it was now a haunt of criminals which meant people like us were reluctant to go ,especially alone.
Hope you find what you want, safely.
Viktoria.

[uk2003]

Sound advice from Viktoria "Don't go on match days or when it's been raining for days" but like most places nowadays care must be taken.
I go a few times a year re:family graves and grave hunting and never had any issues, the site itself has had a massive overall in recent years and is a lovely place just to have a quite walk and thinking time to yourself.
If you would like me to have a look for you just put some names and grave numbers on this thread.

Regards
Ken
 

[Althea7]

I too was wondering how to find gravestones in Philips Park Cemetery in Manchester.  I have at least two ancestors buried there.  Thomas Greenwood died 12th March 1873, and was buried on 15th March 1873 at Philips Park Cemetery.  The grave number is shown on the burial record as 405.  On Find a Grave, his gravestone is only shown to be in the Consecrated area.  Not sure what that means, but Find a Grave has a photograph of the layout of the cemetery and it seems the Consecrated area might be the same as the Church of England, the biggest area?  Thomas might have re-married after his wife Bridget died in 1867, as he is shown on the 1871 census with Ann Greenwood, much younger woman and not any known relative, and on his death certificate Ann is the Informant.  This might account for why he doesn't seem to be in the Roman Catholic area with his wife Bridget, who was born in Ireland.

Thomas' wife Bridget Greenwood was buried on 2nd January 1868 in Philips Park cemetery.  Plot:  Roman Catholic 688.  Died 30th December 1867, at I Court, Bennett Street (now Bendix Street), Manchester.

Thomas' brother Hiram Greenwood, born 1820 Heptonstall, died 18th March 1855, at 145 Jersey Street, Ancoats.  Presumably he would also be buried at Philips Park Cemetery?

Find a Grave has a lot of people listed for Philips Park Cemetery, but only about 3% photographed.  I would be curious what is written on my ancestors headstones.  They were poor people and maybe they were only buried in public graves, if these exist there?