Friends of Pudsey Cemetery
​and Chapel

Welcome to the Friends of Pudsey Cemetery we have a simple mission:
As a unified community we aim to promote the welfare and preservation of the Cemetery as an important Civic site and help maintain an important part of our community. The Friends will be working in partnership with Leeds City Council Bereavement Services who maintain the Cemetery grounds. Please note the following basic principal - all members are volunteers giving their own free time. As we are a diverse community we will all hold different opinions - mutual respect and cooperation are the only way forward, lets keep it fun.
Please keep checking this page for news and updates.

CALENDAR of 2018 Ranger led volunteer events

Spring Clean Volunteer Action Day
Sunday, 18 March 2018
Depending on the weather this may include a re-painting of the entrance gates and railings. Other tidy up activities also to suit all abilities. 

Summer Volunteer Action Day
Sunday, 17 June 2018
Weeding and removal of self seeding trees, other tidy up activities also to suit all abilities. 

September Volunteer Action Day
Sunday, 23 September 2018
Weeding and removal of self seeding trees, other tidy up activities also to suit all abilities. 

War Graves Clean up - WW1 Centenary
Sunday, 21 October 2018
We have 160 war graves and family memorials to the lost in our Cemetery. The plan for the day is to give as many as we can a gentle clean and respectfully leave a named poppy cross with each. Needless to say a big show of support for this event will be appreciated - local and national media will be invited.

All volunteer days are run between 10.30am - 1.30pm, meet at main gate. Equipment, gloves, refreshments provided. Volunteers welcome to join in any time they can make it along and no obligation to stay until the end. Please wear clothes suitable for our smashing Pudsey weather and stout shoes/walking boots.  

Cemetery Walks 2018

There will be several Cemetery tours being held again this year - please check back with this page for event updates.

What the Cemetery offers us

Pudsey Cemetery holds the families and people that lived in the Town from 1875 onwards. As they were a community when they were alive they are still a community now, laid to rest side by side and at peace. These were families who would have known and worked with each other. Pudsey of a century ago only numbered 14000 inhabitants. It would have been small but industrious as this section will explore. Please keeping checking in as this page will continue to grow in the coming months.

Respect and preservation

Please take time to explore our Cemetery and visit the people mentioned. This page has a map to show the location of the registered War Graves. An additional map of the family memorials is currently in progress.
Please take care when exploring the Cemetery - respect others who may be visiting buried relatives and watch your footing. Some of the masonry is in poor condition and is easily damaged.

Further contact information

If you want to know more the Cemetery’s history or have a general enquiry you can contact us via:
friends.of.pudseycemetery@gmail.com
and our Facebook group can be joined on the icon below:

Pudsey Cemetery Action Day Sunday 29th October 2017 - THANK YOU

A big thank you to everyone that came along and helped at our Action Day. Such an amazing turnout and I hope you enjoyed yourselves! The Chapel and the plots around it look a lot better for your efforts.
Original burial plot application document from the Cemetery supplied by Andy Watson
The original avenue of cherry trees that lined the main driveway up to the Chapel

Information Gallery

People buried or remembered in the Cemetery

The Ramsden family of Fartown
Ernest Ramsden was the first soldier from Pudsey to be killed on the Western Front. He was with the 1st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment and died on the 18th October 1914, he was only 19. He had been a full time soldier joining at 16 and probably training with the West Yorkshire Regiment at Strensall camp, York. Ernest’s grave was quickly lost as the front lines shifted and the Army could not give a definite location for his body.
His parents Joseph and Betsy lived at 114 Fartown, and ran their own grocers shop. After the death of his son, Joseph couldn’t settle and possessed a keen desire to offer himself to the nation. Despite being 48 he enlisted giving his age as 39 (otherwise he would have seen service in the Home Defence). After 4 months training he was sent to France with the 8th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment. He spent much of his spare time searching for his son’s grave site on the battlefield. Joseph received serious shrapnel injuries to his head on March 9th 1916. He later passed away at number 10 Casualty Clearing station, BEF France. He was 49 when he died and is the oldest person from our district to be killed in active service.
Both men were members of the Pudsey United Reform Church congregation, their names are commemorated on the Church’s own memorial. Ernest is remembered on the Ploegsteert Memorial and Joseph is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. Betsy was to later pass away on October 29th 1919 and is buried in Pudsey Cemetery. Her grave also features a memorial to her husband and son.
With thanks to Sonya Garfit for supplying the family photos.