Durham Crematorium
By Alan José FICCM
The idea of a Crematorium for Durham was first suggested by local clergy in 1953, who noted that thepractice of cremation was becoming more popular and were concerned that people from Durham had to travel to either Newcastle or Darlington, a journey of about an hour in those days which could add to the distress of bereavement.
The Rural Dean of Durham approached the Durham Council requesting that urgent consideration be given to the building of a crematorium. The council acted swiftly and a preliminary meeting was held on 22nd July 1954 with representatives from the Council of the City of Durham, Durham Rural District Council, Brandon & Byshottles Urban District Council and Spennymoor Urban District Council.
The meeting resolved that matters be put in hand to form a constitution for a Joint Committee and that plans be drawn up for a Crematorium to be built. The Durham Council advised the meeting, that they were prepared to make available a plot of land consisting of some eight acres at South Road Durham, adjacent to the then fairly new municipal cemetery.
It was decided to meet again on 8th September where it was resolved that Mr J.P. Chaplin A.R.I.B.A - designer of crematoria at Norwich, Cambridge, Northampton and Peterborough - be approached with a view to designing the proposed Crematorium for Durham. The constitution for a Joint Committee was also agreed.
Chairman of the Joint Board, Councillor W. Johnson, reported that when Mr Chaplin came to Durham for the first time - was faced with a determined board who had regard that 800 yards from the Crematorium is one of the most majestic buildings in the Country, Durham Cathedral. We were determined that it had to have one hundred per cent relationship with the build of the cathedral.
The Committee met in October and November and again during January 1955. Mr Chaplin had, by that time, inspected the site and submitted preliminary proposals and a provisional costing of £45,000.00 for the building of the Crematorium. In
September planning approval was obtained from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and also from Durham County Council.
Chaplin’s design for the Crematorium was for an octagonal centre chapel with a disguised chimney built of local stone with a copper roof - inspiration is said to have come from the Monks kitchen near the cathedral. Indeed, Chaplin used many references from the cathedral in his building, notably in the chevron patterns used on the pews, altar, catafalque and Book of Remembrance stand.
The first meeting of the officially formed Central Durham Crematorium Joint Committee was held on 23rd November 1955. There followed much background work and at the meeting of the C.D.C.J.C. held on 17th December 1958, over three years later, it was resolved that building work should start as soon as possible.
By November of the following year, with work well advanced, it was agreed to advertise for a crematorium superintendent. Mr Roy Williamson, with experience of management at Hartlepool Crematorium, was appointed.
In July 1960 the fees were set - adult cremation was £6. 6s. 0d. (£6.30). The office was equipped, other staff appointed and the crematorium opened on 4th August 1960. The final cost of building Durham Crematorium was £62,799. 9s. 0d.
The Joint Committee had resolved that there should be no formally set out gardens with no rose bushes or plaquesas they wished the area around the chapel to appear as unspoilt as the surrounding countryside.
The crematorium was Dedicated onWednesday, 3rd August, 1960, by the Lord Bishop of Durham (the Rt. Rev. Morris Harland, D.D.) assisted by the Rev. CharlesBarrett, M.A., D.D., President-elect of the Durham and District Free Church Federal Council.
During 1960, Durham Crematorium was one of 17 new crematoria opened that year bringing the total to 148. There were a total of 588,032 deaths of which 204,019 were cremated, 34.70%. For comparison, in 2009 there were 3 new crematoria opened bringing the total to 256 in operation. There were 563,785 deaths of which 413,431 were cremated, 73.33%.
The first cremation service to be held at the new crematorium was of a gentleman from Esh Winning. The Funeral was conducted by Funeral Director Bernard Alderson who’s son Norman, continues to operate the business, founded in 1921, to this day.
A retired local Funeral Director Mr Frank Morrell, was a young trainee with the Co-operative Funeral Service on the second cremation service. Frank, who lives and is well known in Sacriston, conducts funerals for a Durham company on request.
The new facility was well received by both the clergy and funeral directors and was soon established as a vital service to the community. In the first year of operation 375 cremations took place.
Twenty-four years later, in 1984, the two original cremators needed to be replaced and, at the same time, the opportunity was taken to install a new central heating system as the original electric under floor heating had not proved very efficient. This work was completed in 1985. In June 1990 an organ was purchased allowing mourners to be accompanied in the singing of hymns for the first time.
The introduction of the Environmental Protection Act (in 1990) had serious implications for the Joint Committee. It became evident very early on that the cremators installed only five years before would not comply with the new legislation and that new equipment would have to be installed. In addition, the original chimney, which was an integral part of the architecture and structure of the building, would have to be replaced.
For this major operation, it was decided to appoint a firm of consulting engineers, A.J. Ramsay & Partners of Stockton-on-Tees, who had previously overseen a major project at Middlesbrough Crematorium. By October of the same year a feasibility study had been completed with the recommendation that three new cremators be installed together with a new chimney and ancillary equipment.
In due course tender enquiries were sent to all companies capable of carrying out such work. In December 1991, the recommendation was made that L&P Furnaces be awarded the contract for the supply and installations of three single-end cremators. Contracts were issued in March 1992 to L&P Furnaces, A.S.L. Electricals and Durham City Council Operations Division for the necessary works. Four months later, work commenced on the chimney and buildings and in October the cremator installation began alongside the rewiring of the entire building.
Work progressed well over the winter of 1992/3 with the first new cremator commissioned in December 1992 and the work completed by the end of March 1993. During this time the Crematorium did not close or reduce its service to the public; all contractors worked in such a way as to keep any inconvenience to the absolute minimum, often working until the early hours of the morning.
At the end of the contract, the new cremators were independently tested and found to be fully compliant with the E.P.A. (1990). During the contract it had been agreed to take the opportunity to improve the interior of the Crematorium and a programme of redecoration was completed.
The issue of memorials had been reviewed from time to time by the Joint Committee over the years and it was always agreed that no formal garden was necessary but, in January 1998, the matter was considered again following a number of requests via Members of the Central Durham Crematorium Joint Committee for a formal Memorial Garden.
The Southern Green Partnership, a local firm of Chartered Landscape Architects, was appointed to prepare a master plan for the design of the
Crematorium grounds which would address the issues of car parking, entry and exit roads and a formal memorial garden. The adjacent cemetery was also included within the scope of the master plan and the brief included the provision of a woodland burial site.
During the first half of 1999 visits were made to many crematoria to assess the best (and worst) features of the formal gardens, and woodland burial sites in different parts of the country.
After much background work had been completed, the design for the memorial garden was agreed and tender documents prepared. Work began on site in May 2000. Cavetto Landscapes ofWashington were the successful contractors and the walled garden designed in an octagonal shape with a centre pond and fountains to match the chapel, was completed on time and within the budget of £135,000.00 in October of that year.
The new walled memorial garden was officially opened on 22nd July 2000, jointly by the RightWorshipful The Mayor of Durham, Councillor George Wharton, together with The Mayor of Spennymoor Town Council (and Chairman of the Central Durham Crematorium Joint Committee ) Councillor John Marr.
The formal memorial garden has proved to be very popular with the bereaved since memorials were first leased to the public in April 2001. Since that time, some 2,000 memorial leases have been sold. In 2002 the design was awarded a Durham County Council Environment Award in recognition of the superb design.
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