We have 11 Images Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of John Williams

Bristol General Cemetery (Arnos Vale),
Bath Road, BS4 3EW,
Arnos Vale, Bristol, Gloucestershire.

Church History

This Cemetery or Burial Ground was founded in 1837, and we understand it is still open.

"The Bristol General Cemetery is situated at Arno's-vale, about a mile from Bristol, on the Bath-road. It was established by a company under the 'Bristol Cemetery Act, 1837'. The spot chosen is very picturesque, and covers about twenty-seven acres of land. The grounds are tastefully laid out, and contain a great number of elegant monuments. The cemetery is open for inspection from eight a.m. till dusk." [Extract from Webster & Co.'s Postal and Commercial Directory of the City of Bristol, and County of Glamorgan, 1865]

There are Chapels for the Church of England, Nonconformists (both Grade II Listed Buildings) and Holy Souls Cemetery for Roman Catholics. Several of the monuments are also Listed.

The Chapels date from around 1840, and were built to designs by Charles Underwood. The site now covers 45 acres, and (as of 2017) is in the care of the Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust, a UK registered charity.

Our first photograph shows a General View of the Cemetery - pleasantly rural. Photograph 2 shows the memorial to the first burial which took place here, of Mary Breillat, who was buried on 29th July 1839. At that time the whole hillside was open fields, with a view overlooking Bristol.

Photograph 3 shows the Tomb of the Matthews family. It is the most expensive in the Cemetery, and cost £1,000 when it was erected in 1860. This is roughly equivalent to £61,000 today (2017).

The memorial shown on Photograph 4 is unusual, as whilst it looks like stone, is actually made of teak. From the front, obviously, it is cleverly done to look like stone, but the sides show some signs of rotting, indicating it is clearly wood.

Photograph 5 is another General View, whilst the simple memorial shown in Photograph 6 indicates the resting place of James Hosken, first Captain of SS Great Britain.

Photograph 7 shows the tomb of Raja Rammohun Roy Bahadoor. He is known as the 'father of modern India' and his tomb is a place of pilgrimage. There is also a statue of him on College Green. The inscription on the stone indicates he was born at Radhanagare in Bengal in 1774, and died at Bristol September 27th 1833.

Photograph 8 shows the Memorial to WWI Casualties. Sadly, the ledger stones were removed at some point; and whilst now, some of them have been replaced, this may not be to the same spot they were in originally. There were 239 Casualties in all.

Photographs 9 and 10 show the WWII Cross of Sacrifice, and headstones in the WWII area of the Cemetery.

Finally, Photograph 11 shows the Crypt underneath the Anglican Chapel.

Denomination

Now or formerly a Cemetery.

In most cases this will be a record of its original consecration.

Maps

This Cemetery is located at OS grid reference ST6081271534. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Bristol General Cemetery (Arnos Vale), Arnos Vale, Bristol shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Bristol shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)