Lawnswood Cemetery Chapels And Crematorium

Lawnswood Cemetery Chapels and Crematorium consists of two chapels connected by a colonnade, with an added crematorium. The chapels and colonnade were built between 1870 and 1876 by George Corson, while the crematorium was added in 1905 by W.S. Braithwaite. The buildings are constructed from coursed squared gritstone and feature tiled roofs, showcasing a Gothic Revival style.

The northern chapel is a Church of England chapel with three bays, featuring two-light windows, buttresses, and a polygonal apse at the north end. It has an octagonal turret with a louvred belfry and a tiled spire roof at the southeast corner. An open cloister with three arches, supported by columns of polished Aberdeen granite, connects to the nonconformist chapel, which is set at right angles. This chapel boasts large three-light stained-glass windows with circular tracery and carved spandrels in the gable ends.

The crematorium, attached to the south end of the chapel group, has five bays designed in a similar style. It features Gothic-style windows, buttresses, and coped gables topped with ball finials. A tall square tower, which serves as a chimney flue, is located at the northwest corner and has an octagonal 'belfry' stage. A plaque in the basement notes that this crematorium was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, having opened on January 4, 1905, with an architect's drawing dated January 1904.

Lawnswood Cemetery was opened in 1875, with the church portion consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon on December 31. Each chapel included an attached robing room, hot water pipes, and radiators, with a total construction cost of £7,500. George Corson was responsible for the cemetery's layout, which was necessary to accommodate the growing population of the suburbs of Headingley and Far Headingley.