Lawnswood Cemetery Chapels and Crematorium is a Grade II listed building in the Leeds local planning authority area, England. First listed on 5 August 1976. Chapel, crematorium. 1 related planning application.
Lawnswood Cemetery Chapels and Crematorium
- WRENN ID
- inner-gateway-stoat
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Leeds
- Constituency
- Leeds North West MP: Katie White (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 5 August 1976
- Type
- Chapel, crematorium
- Address
- Lawnswood Cemetery Chapels and Crematorium, Otley Road, LS16 6AH
- OS grid reference
- SE 267 390
- Coordinates
- 53.84727, -1.59453
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
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.
Local climate
Lawnswood Cemetery Chapels and Crematorium receives an average of 870 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 62% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 56% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 41 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 79% of listed buildings. Of these, 22 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings
- Memorial and grave of Arthur Currer Briggs at NGR 2673 3905 in Lawnswood Cemetery
- Memorial and Grave of Ethel Preston at Ngr 2673 3905 in Lawnswood Cemetery
- Memorial and grave of Sam Wilson at NGR 2678 3909 in Lawnswood Cemetery
- Main Lodge, Lawnswood Cemetery
- Columbarium at Lawnswood Cemetery
- Gravestone of George Corson at Ngr 2688 3916
- Milestone at Junction with New Adel Lane
- War Memorial in Lawnswood Cemetery
- Milestone at Ngr 2699 3981 (Farrar Lane Junction)
- Weetwood Grange Weetwood Grove