Cemetery in Cambridge, England
The former chapel of rest at the Ascension Parish Burial Ground
The Ascension Parish Burial Ground , formerly known as the burial ground for the
parish of
St Giles and
St Peter's , is a
cemetery off
Huntingdon Road in
Cambridge ,
England . Many notable
University of Cambridge academics are buried there, including three
Nobel Prize winners.
Although a
Church of England site, the cemetery includes the graves of many
non-conformists , reflecting the demographics of the parish in the 19th and 20th centuries, which covered much of West Cambridge.
[1]
It was established in 1857 while the city of Cambridge was undergoing rapid expansion, although the first burial was not until 1869.
[1] It covers one and a half acres and contains 1,500 graves with 2,500 burials.
[1] Originally surrounded by open fields, it is now bounded by trees and the gardens of detached houses,
[2] and is a designated city wildlife site.
[1]
In 2020 it was formally closed to new burials by an
Order in Council ,
[3] and responsibility for its upkeep was transferred to
Cambridge City Council .
[4]
The former chapel of rest is now used as the workshop of
letter-carver Eric Marland.
[5]
[6]
Graves and memorials of notable individuals
A
Grave of astronomer
John Couch Adams and wife Eliza Adams
John Couch Adams , astronomer, discoverer of
Neptune ,
Lowndean Professor .
[7]
[8] He is unique in also having a commemorative memorial in
Westminster Abbey
Hugh Kerr Anderson , physiologist, Master
Gonville and Caius College .
[7]
Elizabeth Anscombe , Fellow of
Newnham College , Philosopher, Professor of Philosophy.
[9] her husband
Peter Geach is buried with her.
[9]
Richard Appleton , Master
Selwyn College , Vicar of St. George's, Camberwell, Vicar of Ware.
[7]
[8]
Arthur John Arberry [
citation needed ] orientalist, Professor of Arabic, Fellow of
Pembroke College, Cambridge .
B
Grave of Sir
Robert Stawell Ball and wife Lady Frances Elizabeth Ball.
Sir Robert Stawell Ball , astronomer,
Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry , founded the
screw theory .
[7]
[8]
Arthur Beer ,[
citation needed ] astronomer, member of
Caius College .
Cecil Bendall Professor of Sanskrit, University of Cambridge; Honorary Fellow of
Gonville and Caius College .
[10]
Edwin Keppel Bennett , noms de plume: Francis Bennett, Francis Keppel, Fellow and President of
Gonville and Caius College .
Jack A. W. Bennett ,[
citation needed ] New Zealand born literary scholar, a member of the informal Oxford literary group, the
Inklings , Fellow of
Magdalen College .
Arthur Christopher Benson , 28th
Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge noted for writing the words of the song "
Land of Hope and Glory ".
[7]
[8]
William Henry Besant FRS,
[11] Fellow of
St John's , mathematician
James Bethune-Baker , theologian,
Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity and Dean of Pembroke College.
[7]
[8]
Frederick Blackman FRS,
[12] plant physiologist, Fellow of
St John's .
Joan Boulind CBE, fellow and tutor at
Hughes Hall, Cambridge .[
citation needed ]
John Buckley Bradbury ,
Downing Professor of Medicine .
[8]
Charles Oscar Brink , classicist, Fellow of
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (cremated remains).
[7]
Denis William Brogan , historian, Political Scientist.
[7]
[8]
Zachary Nugent Brooke , historian, Professor of Medieval History.
[7]
William Warwick Buckland , Professor of Law, President of
Gonville and Caius College ,
Regius Professor of Civil Law .[
citation needed ]
Robert Burn ,
[13] Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge , and wife Augusta Sophia, née Prescott (a descendant of
Oliver Cromwell )
John Burnaby ,[
citation needed ] Dean of
Trinity College, Cambridge ,
Regius Professor of Divinity , and wife Dorothy Burnaby, née Lock; also her brother
Robert Heath Lock is buried in the same grave
Geoffrey Bushnell , archaeologist and ethnologist, Fellow of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge .
[7]
C
Memorial to
Sarah Clackson
James Cable ,[
citation needed ] diplomat, naval strategist, and his wife Lady Cable,
Viveca Hollmerus [
citation needed ]
John Walton Capstick
[14] Bursar and Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge physicist, musician
Neville Chittick ,[
citation needed ] scholar, archaeologist
Richard Chorley ,[
citation needed ] quantitative geographer, Vice-Master,
Sidney Sussex College
Sir Derman Christopherson FRS,[
citation needed ] engineering scientist, Master
Magdalene College (1978-1985) and his wife Frances, Lady Christopherson[
citation needed ]
Sarah Clackson
[15] Coptologist; first wife of
James Clackson , Secretary of Friends of Ascension Parish Burial Ground.
Sir William Henry Clark , civil servant.
[7]
John Cockcroft , physicist, Nobel Prize winner, instrumental in the development of nuclear power, first Master of
Churchill College .
[7]
[8]
Agnes Bell Collier , Vice Principal of
Newnham College , passed Maths Tripos in 1883.
[8]
Frances Cornford , poet, interred in grave of her father
Sir Francis Darwin ; and his wife.
[7]
D
Gravestone of Sir
Francis Darwin , FRS and his daughter
Frances Cornford
E
F
G
Peter Geach , Philosopher, buried with his late wife
Elizabeth Anscombe .
[9]
Roberto Gerhard
[18] Composer, Musical Scholar.
Jean Grove , Glaciologist, Fellow of
Girton College, Cambridge . Older sister of the historian
Margaret Spufford . Buried beside her mother Mary Clark, her niece Bridget Spufford, and her son
Richard Grove .
Richard Grove , Environmental historian. Buried beside his mother
Jean Grove , and together with his grandmother Mary Clark and cousin Bridget Spufford
Henry Melvill Gwatkin ,
Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History , Historian, theologian, conchologist.
[7]
H
Reginald Hackforth [
citation needed ]
Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy , Classical Scholar, Fellow of
Sidney Sussex College .
Basil Hammond , Historian.
[8]
William Emerton Heitland Classicist, Fellow of
Emmanuel .
[8]
Margaret Heitland journalist and suffragette.
[8]
Robert Drew Hicks Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge , classicist, blind for 30 years.[
citation needed ]
Paul Hirsch assembled one of the largest private music libraries in Europe, now in the British Library
Ernest William Hobson
[19] Mathematician,
Sadleirian Professor , Fellow of
Christ's College, Cambridge .
Frederick Gowland Hopkins , Biochemist, Nobel Prize winner for discovery of vitamins.
[8]
Bertram Hopkinson , Patent Lawyer, Engineer,
Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics .
[7]
[20]
Tristram Frederick Croft Huddleston , Classicist and
Censor of Fitzwilliam House 1890–1907.
[8]
Arthur Hutchinson , Mineralogist and Master
Pembroke College .
[7]
J
K
L
Horace Lamb , Mathematician and physicist.
[7]
[8]
Guy Lee , Cambridge professor, classicist, translator of Ovid, Horace and Catullus, Fellow of
St John's College, Cambridge .[
citation needed ]
Edward Hubert Linfoot [
citation needed ] Mathematician, Fellow of
Wolfson College
George Downing Liveing
[22] FRS, Professor of Chemistry, Fellow and President of
St John's College, Cambridge and his wife Catharine
John Bascombe Lock , Bursar of
Gonville and Caius College , author of books on trigonometry, Chair of
Addenbrooke's Hospital .
[8]
Robert Heath Lock , botanist and geneticist, wrote the first English textbook on genetics.
[8]
Henry Richards Luard
[23] Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge , mathematician and clergyman
M
Gravestone of philosopher
G. E. Moore OM and wife Dorothy Moore
Alexander Macalister ,
Professor of Anatomy, Cambridge University , Egyptologist, Fellow of
St John's College, Cambridge .
[8]
R. A. Stewart Macalister , archaeologist, son of
Alexander Macalister .
[8]
Sir Donald MacAlister , Physician, Vice-Chancellor Glasgow, Member of the
Cambridge Apostles .
[7]
[8]
Sir Desmond MacCarthy , Literary and drama critic, Member of the
Cambridge Apostles .
[7]
Norman McLean , Orientalist and Member of the
Cambridge Apostles , Master
Christ's College, Cambridge .
[7]
Alfred Marshall ,
Professor of Political Economy one of the founders of
Neoclassical economics ,
[8] married to
Mary Paley , co-founder of
Newnham College .
Sir Charles James Martin [
citation needed ] FRS, Scientist, Fellow of
King's College, London .
Brigadier
Arthur Gordon Matthew
[24]
Jeremy Maule , English scholar and teacher; Fellow and Lecturer in English, Trinity College.[
citation needed ]
Edwin Arthur Maxwell , Mathematician; Director of Studies in Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Honorary Fellow of
Queens' College, Cambridge .
[25]
John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor , Professor of Latin, Antiquarian, early vegetarian and President of
St John's College, Cambridge .
[7]
[8]
Robert Williams Michell Surgeon.
[26]
Sir Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency [
citation needed ] Indian Civil Service
William Loudon Mollison ,
[27] Master of Clare College, Cambridge
G. E. Moore , philosopher, Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge , Member of the
Cambridge Apostles , the intellectual secret society.
[7]
[8]
Andrew Munro , bursar and mathematician of
Queens' College, Cambridge .
[28]
N
P
Conrad Pepler [
citation needed ] Priest, Writer, Editor, Publisher
Max Perutz , OM, FRS, Molecular Biologist, Nobel Prize winner, Fellow of
Peterhouse , and wife Gisela Perutz; their cremated remains are buried together with his parents Hugo and Dely Perutz.
[29]
R
Sir Leon Radzinowicz
[30] FBA, Criminologist, Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge .
Arthur Stanley Ramsey Mathematician and philosopher, President of
Magdalene College .
[8]
Frank P. Ramsey Philosopher and mathematician, Member of the
Cambridge Apostles , the intellectual secret society, buried in same grave as his parents:
Arthur Stanley Ramsey and Mary Agnes Ramsey.
[7]
William Luard Raynes OBE, solicitor, twice Mayor of Cambridge.
[8]
William Halse Rivers Rivers
[31] FRS, Fellow of
St John's College, Cambridge , Anthropologist, Neurologist, Ethnologist, Psychologist
David Roberts , architect and fellow of Magdalene College.
[32]
Walter William Rouse Ball , Mathematician, author on the History of Mathematics, endowed professorships.
[7]
[8]
S
John Edwin Sandys , Classicist and
Public Orator of Cambridge University.
[7]
[8]
Sir
Charles Henry Sargant ,[
citation needed ] Lord Justice of Appeal, Privy Counsellor
Charlotte Scott , mathematician, first unofficial
wrangler , buried in the grave of cousin Eliza Nevin.
[7]
[8]
[16]
Isabel May Griffiths Seltman, wife of
Charles Seltman , art historian, fellow of
Queens' College, Cambridge and a University Lecturer in Classics.[
citation needed ]
Gerald Shove ,
[33] economist and Member of the Cambridge Apostles, the intellectual secret society, and
Fredegond Shove , poet, step-daughter of Sir
Francis Darwin ; her mother was Lady Darwin, formerly Florence Maitland;
Walter William Skeat , Philologist,
Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon .
[7]
[8]
Lucy Joan Slater ,
[34] Mathematician and Recorder of Ascension Parish Burial Ground, buried in her mother's grave (Lucy Slater, Classicist
[8] )
George Smee, solicitor, and wife Eliza Smee; monument designed by
Jacob Epstein .
[8]
Bridget Spufford,
[7] after whom "Bridget's Hostel", Cambridge was named; daughter of Professors
Peter Spufford and the late
Margaret Spufford , sister of
Francis Spufford . She is buried with her grandmother, Mary Clark, née Johnson.
Vincent Henry Stanton ,
Regius Professor of Divinity , Member of the
Cambridge Apostles , the intellectual society at
Cambridge University .
[8]
Joseph Peter Stern , Germanist, Fellow of
St John's College, Cambridge , (cremated remains).
[7]
Stanley Stubbs [
citation needed ] Headmaster of Perse School.
T
Joseph Robson Tanner , Bursar of
St John's , Samuel Pepys expert.[
citation needed ]
Charles Taylor
[35] Vice-Chancellor and Master St. John's College: 1881 to 1908, Fellow of
St John's College, Cambridge , mathematician and Hebrew scholar
Harold McCarter Taylor [
citation needed ] Mathematician, Barrister, a Fellow of
Clare College , (cremated remains)
Henry Martyn Taylor , Mathematician, braille expert.
[7]
[8]
Sir Alfred St Valery Tebbitt ,[
citation needed ] managing director of Kirby, Beard & Co. and British Chamber of Commerce, Paris, and of the Hertford British Hospital, Paris, and wife Lady Gladys St. Valery Tebbitt, née Pendrell Smith.
V
W
Wittgenstein's gravestone in 2021
Harry Marshall Ward , colleague of Sir
Francis Darwin .[
citation needed ]
Sir Percy Henry Winfield [
citation needed ] FBA,
Rouse Ball Professor of English Law , Fellow of
St John's College, Cambridge , author of The Law of Torts and his wife Lady Helena Winfield, née Scruby
Denys Winstanley , Vice Master
Trinity College, Cambridge .
[37]
John Wisdom (cremated),Professor of Philosophy, Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge , philosopher, and Honorary Fellow of
Fitzwilliam College .
[7]
Ludwig Wittgenstein , philosopher, Professor of Philosophy, Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge , Member of the
Cambridge Apostles .
[38]
[8]
Charles Wood , Professor of Music, Fellow of
Gonville and Caius College , composer.
[7]
William Aldis Wright , Shakespearean and Biblical scholar, Vice-Master
Trinity College, Cambridge .
[7]
[8]
Darwin family
Five members of the family of
Charles Darwin are interred here: two sons: Sir
Francis Darwin
[8] and Sir
Horace Darwin ,
[8] two daughters-in-law: Lady
Florence Darwin (third wife of Francis) and Lady
Ida Darwin
[8] (wife of Horace), and a granddaughter:
Frances Cornford ,
[8] the daughter of Francis Darwin by his second wife,
Ellen Wordsworth Darwin , née Crofts.
Charles Darwin himself is buried in
Westminster Abbey .
References
^
a
b
c
d
"Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground" . Faculty of Divinity 50 Treasures . University of Cambridge Faculty of Divinity. Retrieved 28 June 2021 .
^
"St Giles Cemetery, Cambridge" . Parks & Gardens . The Hestercombe Gardens Trust. Retrieved 28 June 2021 .
^
"Privy Council Office - Burial Act 1853" .
The Gazette . Retrieved 28 June 2021 .
^
"Cambridge's 'most historic burial ground' to be managed by city council following royal decision" . Cambridge City Council . 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2021 .
^
"History of Churches & Burial Grounds" . Church at Castle (website run on behalf of local churches). Retrieved 29 June 2021 .
^ Webb, Takka Productions Limited | Design by Webb &.
"The Art Workers' Guild | Eric Marland" . The Art Workers’ Guild . Retrieved 29 June 2021 . {{
cite web }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link ) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link )
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
aa
ab
ac
ad
ae
af
ag
ah
ai
aj
ak
al
am
an
ao
ap
aq "A Cambridge Necropolis" by Dr. Mark Goldie, March 2000, for the Friends of The Parish of The Ascension Burial Ground
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
aa
ab
ac
ad
ae
af
ag
ah
ai
aj
ak
al
am
an
ao
ap
aq
ar
as
at Ascension Parish Burial Ground Formerly St.Giles' and St. Peter's Burial Ground , Cambridge City Council Planning Department, 1995
^
a
b
c Hayes, John (2020).
"G.E.M. ANSCOMBE—Irish-born philosopher" . History Ireland . 28 (5): 42–44.
ISSN
0791-8224 .
JSTOR
26934660 .
^
"Bendall, Cecil" . A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Besant, William Henry" . A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Blackman, Frederick Frost" . A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Burn, Robert" . A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Capstick, John Walton" . Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"[Obituary] Sarah J. Clackson" . The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists . 40 (1–4). 2003.
hdl :
2027/spo.0599796.0040.001:02 .
^
a
b
c
"Britain's brainiest cemetery" .
BBC News . 10 September 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Ewing, James Alfred" . A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"=Roberto Gerhard: Selected Works" . Virtuoso Channel. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Hobson, Ernest William" . Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Casualty Details: Hopkinson, Bertram" .
Commonwealth War Graves Commission . Retrieved 19 May 2015 .
^ Parry, R. St John (2013).
Henry Jackson, O.M. Cambridge University Press. p. 114.
ISBN
9781107630949 .
^
"Liveing, George Downing" . Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Henry Richards Luard" . Trinity College Chapel. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Casualty Details: Matthew, Arthur Gordon" .
Commonwealth War Graves Commission . Retrieved 19 May 2015 .
^
"Cambridge Individuals" . MacTutor . Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Captain Robert Williams Michell" . Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^ Knewstubb, Peter (2012).
"William Loudon Mollison (1851–1929)" (PDF) . Clare Association Annual : 65–67. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^ "Obituary, Mr. Andrew Munro, Queens' College, Cambridge". The Times . 3 July 1935.
^
"Search Results" . catalogues.royalsociety.org .
^ Goldie, Mark (2009). A Guide to Churchill College, Cambridge . pp. 62–63.
^ "Rivers, William Halse Rivers".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi :
10.1093/ref:odnb/37898 . (Subscription or
UK public library membership required.)
^
"Huntingdon Road: chapel for Ascension Parish Burial Ground" . Cambridge 2000 . Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^ The Times obituary, 18 August 1947.
^
"History of Churches and Burial Grounds" . Church at Castle. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^ "Taylor, Charles".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi :
10.1093/ref:odnb/36427 . (Subscription or
UK public library membership required.)
^
"Funeral of Mr. Vansittart" , The Cambridge Review , vol. 3, no. 68, Cambridge Review Committee, p. 280, 1882
^
"Trinity College Chapel - Denys Arthur Winstanley" . Trinity College, Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^
"Wittgenstein's Grave" . www.britishwittgensteinsociety.org .
External links
52°13′03″N 0°06′00″E / 52.2176°N 0.1001°E / 52.2176; 0.1001