Earlham Road Cemetery, Norwich
Spirit of the Army—Armed Science
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| Details | |
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| Established | 1856 |
| Location | Norwich |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 52°37′57″N 1°16′02″E / 52.6324°N 1.2673°ECoordinates: 52°37′57″N 1°16′02″E / 52.6324°N 1.2673°E |
| Owned by | Norwich City Council |
| Size | 34 acres (0.14 km2; 0.053 sq mi) |
| Website | Earlham Road Cemetery |
| Find a Grave | Earlham Road Cemetery, Norwich |
Earlham Road Cemetery, Norwich also known as Earlham Cemetery or Norwich Cemetery is a cemetery located in Norwich which was officially opened on 6 March 1856 and covers 34 acres (14 ha). The cemetery is divided into two distinct sites by Farrow Road A140 which runs north-south across the site. To the east of the road is the original 19th century cemetery and to the west of the road lies the 20th century addition. Today, it caters for all faiths with separate burial grounds and chapels for Jews and Catholics and a growing one for Muslims together with two military cemeteries. The 19th century cemetery is designed with an informal garden cemetery layout with winding paths while the remainder is a more formal grid type which was favoured by cemetery designer John Claudius Loudon. Much of the original cemetery is a County Wildlife Site and contains grassland and a wide selection of mature trees.
In the 19th century a link had been established between the overflowing city churchyards and the outbreak of diseases. As a result of a cholera epidemic in the city in 1848–49, the Mayor of Norwich received an order from the Home Secretary that all burials must cease in the city's churchyards from 1 February 1855. A number of possible sites were considered but eventually former farmland in Earlham was acquired and purchased with a loan of £5000 from Gurney's Bank. Edward E Benest, the city surveyor, designed the cemetery to cater for all faiths with consecrated sections for Church of England burials and unconsecrated for non-conformist burials together with a separate burial ground and mortuary chapel for Jews. Included in his original plans were lodges, offices, twin Gothic chapels and the planting of trees and shrubs. In 1874 a further 15 acres (6.1 ha) were added to the north-east of the site and a Roman Catholic chapel was built. A piece of land was reserved in this new section for the burial of soldiers from the city's Britannia Barracks. Money was raised by public subscription to raise a monument in their memory. A statue designed by John Bell and made by Doultons and named The Spirit of the Army – Armed Science was unveiled by Lord Waveney in 1878. A further 40 acres (16 ha) was purchased in 1892 and by the late-1920s extended beyond Farrow Road to its present size of 85 acres (34 ha). During World War II the city was bombed in the two Baedeker raids in 1942 with 235 civilians losing their lives. A memorial to them was laid out in a section of the cemetery to the west of Farrow Road in 1946.
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