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The Gothic style Chapel
cost £2000 to build and could accommodate 100 people.
The building stands in
the Cemetery on 31 .75 acres of land, which was purchased on the 12th
January 1909. Initially 25 acres were laid out for Church of England,
Non-Conformist and Roman Catholic internments.
The land was consecrated
in October 1911 by Bishop Chevasse of Liverpool and was officially opened
to the public on January 1st 1912 by Alderman J. W. E. Smith,
the Mayor of Bootle, for the burial of people of Bootle and Orrell.
Before the Second World
War, the Cemetery stretched as far as the railings of Aspinall’s Field.
(There was no Menai Road in those days).
Three gateway entrances
gave access from Linacre Lane (the main gate), Orrell Road and Watts Lane
junction and the end of the Isolation Hospital wall (now Menai Road).
The Little Chapel opened
its doors during June 1915. The ceremonial opening was performed by
Alderman G. A. Cassady, the then Mayor of Bootle.
The keeper of the
Cemetery for many years was a Mr Hesketh, who used to blow a whistle 5
minutes before closing time.
At first the grounds were
used for Protestant burials but as Ford Cemetery began to fill, a section
was allocated to Roman Catholic burials at the corner of Menai Road/Watts
Lane.
During the Second War the
corner adjoining the isolation Hospital was used as allotment space, to
grow vegetables for the War effort.
Mass Graves.
The Cemetery contains 3
mass graves.
One contains the remains
of Protestant victims of the war, the second Roman Catholic victims
(mostly unidentified due to mutilation or with no living dependants to
identify them), and the third is the result of transferring the remains
from St. Mary’s graveyard in Church St, Irlam Rd, Bootle.
For persons with no
particular church connection, visiting Clergy conducted services in the
Little Chapel.
Many young and old
residents of Bootle remember the Little Chapel with great respect, for
this building had a distinctive chiming clock which lit up nightly, and
gave a great deal of pleasure to the children of the area.
For some time this now
derelict building had been used as a store by the Cemetery gardeners but
now has been cleared out ready for future refurbishment and use.
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