Biggleswade Cemetery (also known as Drove Road Cemetery) was the main burial ground for the town of

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, and its es ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

. Opening in 1869, the cemetery is located on Drove Road and since 1986 has been closed for burials except for interment in family plots.

Origins

As a result of two

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemics in England during the 19th century a large number of public cemeteries were created across the country during the 1850s and 1860s. Biggleswade founded a Burial Board in 1867 and two acres on the east of the town were purchased for the new cemetery at a cost of £1,500. The first burial in the Drove Road Cemetery was in 1869, when St Andrew’s churchyard in the town centre was closed, and the last was in 1986.'History behind town’s chapel and cemetery' – ''Biggleswade Today'' – 28 October 2011
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The Chapel

Centrally located within the cemetery is the Chapel, which was built in 1867 and is in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. It was designed by architects Ladds & Hooker of London and the building work was carried out by local builder Edward Twelvetrees, who is buried in the cemetery with his wife. The central spire is 90 feet tall and houses a single 2cwt bell cast by

John Warner & Sons John Warner and Sons was a metalworks and bellfoundry based in various locations in the UK, established in 1739 and dissolved in 1949. Previous businesses A company was founded by Jacob Warner, a Quaker, in 1739 and originally produced water pu ...

(who cast the original

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

for the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

) at their Crescent Foundry in London. The Chapel has two small chapels either side of the base of the spire - one for the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and the other for

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

s; these have been little used in recent years. The Chapel has undergone significant restoration works during late 2012 and early 2013. Nineteen war casualties are buried in Drove Road Cemetery, seventeen from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and two from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Thirteen of these have standard

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

headstones while the other six are in family graves. The cemetery was originally managed by the Biggleswade Urban District Council; today it is managed by Biggleswade Town Council.Information supplied by Robert McGregor, Biggleswade Town Clerk

Notable burials

Dan Albone Daniel Albone (12 September 1860 – 30 October 1906) was an English inventor, manufacturer and cyclist. He invented the first successful light farm tractor, and the Ivel Safety bicycle. Childhood Born 12 September 1860 at Biggleswade, Bedfordsh ...

, English inventor, manufacturer and cyclist

Gallery

File:Dan Albone Grave.jpg, The grave of

File:Inside Chapel Biggleswade Cemetery.jpg, Interior of a chapel at Biggleswade Cemetery File:Twelvetrees Grave Biggleswade.jpg, The graves of Edward Twelvetrees (who built the chapel) and his wife File:Headstone Biggleswade Cemetery.jpg, A distinctive nautical headstone in the cemetery File:Headstones Biggleswade Cemetery.jpg, Headstones in the cemetery

References

External links

*
Burials: (including Cremations and Exhumations): Biggleswade Cemetery
–

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

CWGC: Biggleswade Cemetery
{{Cemeteries in England Biggleswade Buildings and structures in Biggleswade Cemeteries in England Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England