SHIPLEY BETHEL BAPTIST
CEMETERY
The Bethel Baptists built their first chapel in Shipley in 1758 on a rocky mound overlooking
the site of the future railway station. The access, later known as Chapel Lane, was from Briggate.
The Chapel was rebuilt in 1836, with seating for 480 and demolished in the early 1970s.
The cemetery is thought to be owned by Bradford MBC, who would be responsible for its upkeep.
There is some evidence that tree pruning has been undertaken in the past, possibly in 2010.
The area is (in 2023) mainly used by drinkers, smokers and campers - as evidenced by the large
amounts of litter on the ground.
A few people do come to look at the graves.
The cemetery is 66.5m long and 17.75m wide at its widest, giving an area of 775 m2.
A Plan of the cemetery (see the West and East sections below) was drawn up in 2024.
The outline is based on a 1:500 OS plan of the area that was published in the late 1800s.
The western section is actually about 1 metre narrower (from N to S) than shown on this OS plan.
On the ground, the graves range in size from 1.5m2 to 2.0m2 though some kerbed tombs are larger.
The grave outlines used on the Plan are a standard 1.5m2, though a few have been made smaller or larger.
The graves have been plotted by eye, some with the aid of a tape measure.
The numbering system is this author's own, as there is no grave plan to refer to.
Grave outlines with no notation are either blank slabs or unattributed graves.
Definitions:
Headstone: a stone set up vertically at the head of a grave.
Notes on the graves:
On first acquaintance (in 2023), 91 stones were readily visible and required minimal cleaning to read their memorials.
Where there was evidence of carved stones beneath the surface, these were uncovered with the aid of a light shovel, secateurs and a brush.
In all, 8 gravestones needed clearing of superficial vegetation and litter, while 30 required some degree of excavation.
There are undoubtedly many more stones buried beneath soil, roots and rubbish: if they are ever to see the light of day, they will probably require excavation with mechanical equipment.
The transcriptions:
The gravestones are generally in very good condition: only 3 have eroded sections that make their inscriptions difficult or impossible to read. Some memorials are partly obscured by neighbouring stones and vegetation.
Such areas have been shaded grey on the transcriptions.
Sources:
No grave plan has been found.
Photographs of each grave can be viewed by clicking its Grave No in the Database below.
Shipley Bethel Baptist Burial Ground location
Shipley Baptist Bethel Cemetery - West and East sections
click on a grave to get a pop-up transcript
Ledger: a flat stone slab covering a grave. Some may be raised on short supports.
Table tomb: a ledger raised on substantial pillars at each corner.
There will often be a second stone slab at ground level.
Chest tomb: a box-shaped monument with enclosed sides.
Obelisk tomb: a pillar, column or spire mounted on a plinth or pedestal.
Kerbed tomb: comprising rails, stone borders or both, they can surround bare earth, stone ledgers or headstones.
Fallen or awkwardly positioned stones have not been moved.
There are 9 bare slabs, some of which may be the bases of table tombs; there are also 2 stones that are partly inscribed, with the owner's name:
these were presumably awaiting a future burial.
With some exceptions, the tombs and their inscriptions are aligned from west to east
(or SW/NE for graves to the east of the entrance).
3 tombs have no visible inscriptions: 1 has a fallen obelisk and 2 kerbed tombs have missing headstones.
3 ledgers or tables have had headstones erected at their edges at later dates.
In addition, there are a number of small headstones that seem to have been slipped into odd corners of the cemetery.
Often inscribed with little more than initials, it is not known if they signify burials or are simply memorials.
The inscriptions mention 549 people, of whom 157 were 5 years old or less at death.
At the other end of the scale, 30 people were 80 or more when they died, including one aged 90.
The earliest burial dates to 15 October 1762, while the latest is 26 September 1937.
The oldest graves are in the eastern section of the cemetery.
Some texts were so finely carved that reading them can be tricky.
This extract from
M10 (Maud)
illustrates the problem: it may look like 1845 but is actually 1843.
The typefaces approximate to those used by the original masons. Times New Roman, Arial, Old English and Lucida Calligraphy fonts have most often been used. An italic 'f ' has usually been used as a proxy for the long 's'.
Wherever possible, the original layout, spacing, punctuation and spelling have been preserved.
The Calverley Info website appears to have used a number of documents, including a grave book
and / or burial register, to compile databases entitled: Births, Acceptances, Burial Register,
Burial Fees, Obituary Book and Membership.
The source of the last named - a Membership Book - is available at Bradford Local Studies library at 36D81/1.
Commenced in 1769, it contains information on the baptisms and deaths of church members between 1759 and 1865.
Calverley Info also has a section called "Shipley Bethel Baptist Memorials", which may be based on
transcripts made in 1931 and 1932 by Arthur Blackburn of Bradford.
The booklet he produced is available in Bradford Local Studies library at DB36/C6/3.
This particular volume, No. 123, seems to be a set of preparatory notes: it uses an idiosyncratic
shorthand that can be difficult to decipher; and it is incomplete. As the transcripts are presented
in partly alphabetical order only, the graves they refer to are impossible to locate on the ground.
There are 168 memorials listed, including 3 duplicated entries; some entries are incomplete; some contain
spelling and date errors; 30 graves that are visible in the cemetery are not on the list.
The transcriptions are accessed by clicking on a Surname in the Database.
They can also be viewed by clicking a grave on the Plans at the foot of the page.
These are some general views of the cemetery:
