Agecroft Cemetery and Crematorium is a public cemetery in

Pendlebury Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies north-west of Manchester, north-west of Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford and south-east of Bolton. Histori ...

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, Greater Manchester. Agecroft Cemetery was opened as Salford Northern Cemetery by Alderman Sir William Stephens Salford County Borough Council on 2 July 1903 on 45 acres (18.2 hectares) of ground because the existing cemetery at

Weaste Weaste () is an inner-city suburb of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is bordered by the town of Eccles, Greater Manchester, Eccles to the West and Seedley to the East. In 2014 Weaste and Seedley (ward), Weaste and Seedley ward had a pop ...

was near to capacity. The new cemetery, which lies in the

Irwell Valley The Irwell Valley in North West England extends from the Forest of Rossendale through the cities of Salford and Manchester. The River Irwell runs through the valley, along with the River Croal. Geology Shallow seas covered most of south-east ...

alongside the

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

bounded by Agecroft Road (A6044) and Langley Road in Pendlebury, was initially outside the

county borough boundary, but has lain within the city since Pendlebury was incorporated into the

City of Salford The City of Salford is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater Manchester, England, named after its main settlement, Salford, which covers a larger area including Eccles, Greater Manchester, Eccles, ...

in 1974. Since the cemetery was opened more than 53,700 interments have been carried out. The original non-conformist chapel was converted to a

crematorium A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...

in January 1957 which since then has handled nearly 60,000 cremation services. The crematorium chapel can hold up to 60 mourners. In the grounds is a large disused mortuary chapel with a clock tower. It is now derelict and hidden by trees. It is listed as a heritage building at risk by the

Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by l ...

. At the very opposite side of the cemetery to what was the original non-conformist chapel (and now the crematorium), there stood a Roman Catholic chapel surrounded largely by Catholic graves. This was pulled down many years ago and all that remains is a grassed/shrubbery roundabout. Near the entrance is a stone memorial to the seven-man crew of

Lancaster bomber The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same spec ...

PB304 which crashed in Regatta Street, off Langley Road, Agecroft, Pendlebury very close to the then boundary between Pendleton,

and

on 30 July 1944 carrying a full bomb load. The cemetery contains the

war graves A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

of 164 Commonwealth service personnel of both of the 20th century's

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s. The majority of the graves are scattered within the cemetery but there is a group of eleven and two special memorial headstones to those whose graves could not be marked.Salford (Agecroft) Cemetery
CWGC Cemetery Report.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cemeteries in Greater Manchester Buildings and structures in Salford Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England