Cathays Cemetery

Coordinates: 51°30′06″N 3°10′51″W / 51.50167°N 3.18083°W / 51.50167; -3.18083
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Cathays Cemetery
Cathays Cemetery
Map
Details
Established1859
Location
CountryWales
Coordinates51°30′06″N 3°10′51″W / 51.5017°N 3.1808°W / 51.5017; -3.1808
Owned byCardiff Council
WebsiteCathays Cemetery
Find a GraveCathays Cemetery

The Cathays Cemetery is one of the main cemeteries of Cardiff, Wales. It is in the Cathays district of the city, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Cardiff city centre. At 110 acres it is the third largest cemetery in the United Kingdom.[1] It is listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

History

A grayscale photo of a large monument topped with a statue of a woman holding a child.
Monument to Frank Baselow

The cemetery was opened in 1859 and originally had two chapels: one

Anglican and the other non-conformist,[2] and each including its own porte-cochère. The cemetery has a Roman Catholic section, where a Roman Catholic chapel was built later.[2]

In the

Second World War, air raids damaged Cathays Cemetery with a number of bombs and an aerial mine.[3] During the early/mid 1970s the cemetery was split into two sections to allow the building of the A48 Eastern Avenue which was a continuation of the A48(M). In the 20th century all three chapels were neglected and in the 1980s the Roman Catholic one was demolished.[2] Since 2008 the Anglican and non-conformist chapels have been undergoing restoration.[2] One of the most imposing memorials is that of Frank Baselow, thought to be a result of Baselow's European heritage (his actual name was Franz) and the taste on the Continent for grand memorials.[1]

The two chapels, the cemetery house, and the gateway and forecourt walls, are Grade II listed buildings.[4][5][6] The cemetery itself is listed at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.[7]


War graves

Commonwealth War Graves section
Memorial to the victims of the Cardiff Blitz in Cathays Cemetery

The cemetery has a

1918–19 influenza pandemic
.

The war graves section includes a number of graves of Australian and Canadian servicemen, one New Zealander who died while serving in the

Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment. Also present is the grave of Jacques Vaillant de Guélis, a Special Operations Executive agent.[8] The cemetery includes the graves of 21 French Navy sailors from the First World War, mostly in the Roman Catholic section,[3] and a similar number of Norwegian sailors from the Second.[9] Elsewhere in the cemetery are numerous Commonwealth War Graves from both the First and Second World Wars. The cemetery contains the graves of 685 service personnel which are registered and maintained by the CWGC.[9] Victims of the Cardiff Blitz
who are buried in the cemetery are commemorated by a memorial erected in 1993.

Notable interments

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Cardiff cemeteries are home to many stories". Wales Online. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "History of the Cemetery". The Friends of Cathays Cemetery. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  3. ^ a b Cardiff Council 2006, p. 6.
  4. National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  5. National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  6. National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. National Historic Assets of Wales
    . Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  8. ^ "CWGC Casualty record, Jacques Vaillant de Guelis".
  9. ^ a b "CWGC Cemetery Report".
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "People Buried At The Cemetery". The Friends of Cathays Cemetery. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  11. ^ "Bishop Hedley's Cathays Cemetery memorial restored and rededicated". BBC News. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2013.

Sources and further reading

External links

51°30′06″N 3°10′51″W / 51.50167°N 3.18083°W / 51.50167; -3.18083