Rochdale Cemetery unveils new facilities
The new memorial hall also includes a book of remembrance room where anyone can visit to pay respects and discuss options for storing ashes and memorials
Rochdale Borough Council has reopened the restored Rochdale Cemetery after “extensive renovations”.
West Lodge, A Grade II-listed building situated at the entrance to the cemetery, officially reopened to the public on 15 September 2023 as a new memorial hall.
The lodge, originally the registrar’s office accommodation when the cemetery was created in 1855, had stood empty for a number of years due to its poor internal condition.
The new memorial hall also includes a book of remembrance room where anyone can visit to pay respects and discuss options for storing ashes and memorials.
A former toilet block outside the lodge has made way for a new garden carefully planned around the focal point of a symbolic memorial tree with glass leaves engraved with messages in remembrance of lives past.
Across the cemetery, the old book of remembrance site will become a new waiting room for 40 people, and an extension to the crematorium will house the “latest” energy-efficient cremation system, a fully refurbished chapel and public toilets, with works due to be completed in late 2024.
Councillor Liam O’Rourke, cabinet member for climate change and environment, said: “West Lodge Memorial Hall now offers the perfect retreat for visitors to pay respects, or discuss ideas for lasting memorials, or simply a quiet place to sit and reflect in the new gardens – providing visitors with a place to think, reflect and remember, year after year.”
