St George's Fields - one of the Place and Memory Project Places

December 26th 1833 saw work begin on the boundary walls of the cemetery at St George's Fields, the walls were 12 foot high and cost £1,169.
The site welcomed its first burial  on July 23rd 1835 - it was that of military surgeon George McDermott and burials continued there until October 1969. There were 93,556 interments in total.

The land was bought back by the University and landscaped into the form it has today, none of the bodies were exhumed - their remains are still there under your feet as you walk round. Most of the monuments were broken up and used as infill for the hillocks there today.

The Victorians intended cemeteries to serve both the living and the dead - for the dead it was a place of interment and for the living it was an area for 'quiet, peace and meditation'

To see more images of St George's Fields and the other parts of Leeds chosen by the artists for the Place and Memory Project come to the exhibition at Inkwell (formerly the Shoulder of Mutton pub on Potternewton Lane Leeds 7) on Friday 23rd May 6pm-9pm and there will also be a book of the project available to buy.