Beverley (St Martin's Cemetery)

Cartwright Lane Cemetery, Beverley

(also known as St Martin’s Cemetery / Minster Burial Ground)

Cartwright Lane Cemetery in Beverley is one of the town’s main Victorian burial grounds, closely tied to the history of Beverley Minster.

Origins and purpose

• Opened in 1861 as St Martin’s Cemetery.
• Built because the Minster churchyard had become full and could no longer take burials.
• Located between Cartwright Lane and Queensgate, just outside the historic town centre.
• Originally run by a joint burial board of St John and St Martin parishes.

Development and administration

• Taken over by Beverley Corporation in 1904, reflecting the move from church to civic control.
• Later managed by local authorities, now under East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Closure and current status

• By 1988 the cemetery was effectively full.
• Today it is closed to new burials, except in existing family plots.
• It survives as a historic cemetery with surviving monuments and mature landscaping.

Genealogical interest

• Often referred to in records as:
  • Cartwright Lane Cemetery
  • St Martin’s Cemetery
  • Beverley Minster burial ground (new)
• Monumental inscriptions have been recorded and published by family history groups.
• Online datasets (e.g. gravestone projects) include hundreds of named individuals and graves.

Notable features

• A cemetery lodge (c.1860) still stands on Cartwright Lane, built as the entrance lodge.
• Contains a range of Victorian and later memorial styles, typical of mid–late 19th century municipal cemeteries.
• Includes memorials to local Beverley families connected with the Minster parish.

In simple terms

It’s essentially Beverley’s main Victorian “overflow” cemetery for the Minster—very similar in role to many 19th-century town cemeteries you’ll know, created when churchyards filled up.