Benchmark - St Mary's Rest Garden - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire - European Historic Survey Stones, Monuments and Benchmarks on Waymarking.com

A cut benchmark on the right hand side gatepost at the entrance to the St Mary's Rest Garden from Bath Street, at the junction with St Ann's Well Street.

"The emergency arising from the cholera epidemic in 1832 prompted the opening of a further burial ground on Bath Street where the victims of the cholera epidemic were interred, away from the high density housing around Barker Gate. Quaker grocer Samuel Fox, a member of the Board of Health, donated the first piece of land for this when ‘the demand on its resources exceeded the accommodation’ and this burial ground was referred to as Fox Close. However, St Mary’s then had to purchase the rest of it from him at a cost of £867 for six acres, which caused some consternation as Archdeacon Wilkins had offered to provide an alternative site free for the purpose.

Bath Street Cemetery is now a peaceful rest garden. It is still possible to see many of the old gravestones around its walls but best known is the stone lion which marks the final resting place of William Thompson, ‘Bendigo’, a champion bare-knuckle fighter and a Nottingham hero in Victorian times. Bendigo, baptised in St Mary’s, in later life turned from fighting to evangelism. It is said he had absolutely no trouble at all with hecklers.

A few burials took place in St Mary’s Churchyard after the last date recorded in the St Mary’s Burial Registers, 28th August 1883. These were recorded in the Register of Burials in St Mary’s Burial Ground attached to St Catharine’s Church on St Ann’s Well Road, Nottingham. St Catharine’s Burial Registers, kept at St Mary’s, commenced on the day that St Mary’s ended – 28th August 1883. The last volume shows that the cemetery continued in regular use to 13th December 1902 (22 interments recorded during 13 days of the month). The last interment was John Weldon, Malin Hill, 3 months. It was then legally closed but one further interment appears in the same register, that of Selina Buckingham, Clumber Lodge, The Park, aged 77 years, buried by HA Gem, Vicar of Wirksworth on 17th December 1908. She subscribed liberally to the building of St Catharine’s."

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