St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery or Wardley Cemetery is a cemetery in Wardley, a suburban area of 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

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It is close to Swinton,

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...

, and

Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of central Salford, and of Manchester. Walkden has been designated as one of seven main town centres in the City of Salford, and now largely functions as a r ...

. It is one of two large cemeteries in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford The Diocese of Salford () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church centred on the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. The diocese was founded in 1852 as one of the first post-Reformation Catholic dioceses in Great Britain. Since 191 ...

Wardley Hall Wardley Hall is an early medieval manor house and a Grade I listed building in the Wardley area of Worsley, Salford, in Greater Manchester (historically within Lancashire). There has been a moat on the site since at least 1292. The current hall ...

, a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

medieval manor house next to the cemetery, is the official residence of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Salford. The cemetery is locally listed as a heritage asset by the

Salford City Council Salford City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City of Salford, a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and ...

and the Greater Manchester Local Heritage List.

History

The land for the cemetery was purchased by the Catholic church in 1930. The previous owner, Captain Thomas Nuttall, was eager to sell after plans were drawn up for the construction of the large new

East Lancashire Road The A580 (officially the Liverpool–East Lancashire Road, colloquially the East Lancs) is the United Kingdom's first purpose-built A road. The road was officially opened by King George V on 18 July 1934. Despite its name, the actual road runs ...

through his estate. The purchase was agreed with Bishop Thomas Henshaw for £7,500, and Wardley Hall and its surrounding land were gifted with the sale. Burials began in 1935.

Facilities and services

The cemetery has a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

for conducting services, which dates from 1932. An annual

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

is held at the cemetery on the

August Bank Holiday The August Bank Holiday or Summer Bank Holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, part of the statutory bank holiday provision. Originally, the holiday was held on the first Monday of August across the country, but was changed in the lat ...

. A nearby building outside the gates contains the cemetery office, house and visitor toilets. At the centre of the site is a large circular fountain structure, which has been closed .

Transport

The A580 "East Lancashire Road" runs along the south end of the cemetery. The

M60 motorway The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through all of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolt ...

and

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road conn ...

also pass nearby.

Moorside railway station Moorside railway station is a railway station serving the town of Wardley, Greater Manchester, England. The station stands on Moorside Road, close to the junction with Chorley Road ( A6). Moorside is a local station on the Atherton Line betwe ...

is approximately one mile away on foot.

Notable interments

Geoffrey Burke Frederick Johnson graves Wardley

* Thomas Henshaw (1873–1938), fifth Bishop of Salford *

Geoffrey Burke Bishop Geoffrey Ignatius Burke MA (31 July 1913 – 13 October 1999) was an English Roman Catholic bishop. Early life Geoffrey Burke was born in Whalley Range, Manchester, in 1913, the son of Doctor Peter Burke and his wife Margaret Mary. He ...

(1913–1999), Auxiliary Bishop of Salford *

Joe Gladwin Joseph Gladwin (22 January 1906 – 11 March 1987) was an English actor, best known for his roles as Fred Jackson in Coronation Street, Stan Hardman in '' Nearest and Dearest'', and Wally Batty in the world's longest-running sitcom, ''Last o ...

(1906–1987), actor * Sir Geoffrey Alan Hulton (1920–1993), fourth and final baronet of the Hulton Baronetcy

Second World War graves

The cemetery contains the graves of 15 identified service personnel who died during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Five of the 14 nurses killed in an air raid on Salford Royal Hospital during the

Manchester Blitz The Manchester Blitz (also known as the Christmas Blitz) was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. It was one of three major raid ...

, four of whom were Irish, were buried together in the cemetery.

References

External links

Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks – Memorial inscriptions at St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery in the District of Wardley, Salford

St Mary's, Wardley – Graveyard Explorers (YouTube)
{{Diocese of Salford 1935 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Salford Cemeteries in Greater Manchester Roman Catholic cemeteries in England and Wales Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford