Bolton Council

Bolton Council,
Overdale Crematorium,
Overdale Drive,
Chorley New Road,
Bolton,
Lancashire,
BL1 5BU
https://www.bolton.gov.uk/burials-cremations

All 415,000 burial and cremation records for Bolton Council in the county of Lancashire, North West England are available online. There are seven cemeteries and one crematorium.

Astley Bridge Cemetery, opened 1884
Blackrod Cemetery, opened 1887
Farnworth Cemetery, opened 1876
Heaton Cemetery, opened 1879
Horwich (Ridgemont) Cemetery, opened 1928
Tonge Cemetery, opened 1856
Westhoughton Cemetery, opened 1858
Overdale Crematorium, opened 1954

The data for each cemetery comprises digital scans of the burial registers, grave details indicating grave occupants, cemetery maps indicating the section where each grave is located and photographs of some memorials.

Each of the cemeteries and Overdale Crematorium are detailed individually below with information on the extent of the records as well as interesting historical facts.

Astley Bridge Cemetery, Eden Street, Astley Bridge, Bolton, BL1 6NU
The compact 8-acre Astley Bridge Cemetery was opened in 1884 and features many graves reflecting the area's industry and particularly textiles. The highlights include the Grade 2 listed chapel, 47 war graves from both World Wars and a number of graves and memorials of prominent local citizens and dignitaries. These include three of Bolton's mayors: Benjamin Kirkman, Robert Demaine and the fascinating Henry Warburton (1865-1936).

Warburton was nephew of Thomas Warburton (1837-1909) and although Warburton senior was the main founder of the eponymous bakery, Henry was very instrumental in the expansion of the company. (Today it is apparently the largest bread baker in the UK). Henry was also a director of Bolton Wanderers FC and on his death, his coffin was carried by the football club's playing staff. His wife Rachel was also a keen football fan but critical of players if they missed a penalty apparently remarking to the trainer "....it should be easy to score!" Her bluff was called by the club's trainer and the two had a penalty shoot-out on the pitch, the trainer in goal. Mrs Warburton scored three of the five penalties taken.

The data features all 18,767 burials and the records available, from October 1884 until May 2012, comprise:

burial register scans with approximately 20 entries per scanned page
grave details providing information on all those buried in the grave as well as the grave reference
cemetery maps showing the section where the grave is located*

* Note: The cemetery maps provide details of the section within the cemtery where the selected grave is located. Each section or block comprises upto 100 graves. Most of the gravestones and memorials incorporate grave reference numbers so using the maps, it is relatively easy to find the searched for grave.

Blackrod Cemetery, Manchester Rd, Blackrod, Bolton BL6 5LS
Blackrod is the smallest of the cemeteries managed by Bolton Council and dates from 1887. It features a war memorial and a small number of war graves.

The data features all 3,097 burials and the records available, from January 1887 to January 2007, comprise:

burial register scans with 8 to 20 entries per scanned page
grave details providing information on all those buried in the grave as well as the grave reference
cemetery maps showing the section where the grave is located**

** Note: Blackrod Cemetery consists of three sections, Church of England, Roman Catholic and Noncon, and sub-class divisions (A-D). Over the years the boundaries of these divisions have moved and the sub-class divisions may not be reliable, but the grave number in a section is distinct. The grave reference and division block highlighted on the map have been based on the numerical location of the grave.

Farnworth Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Farnworth, Bolton, BL4 7QY
There are two smaller church cemeteries in Farnworth but Farnworth Cemetery, managed by Bolton Council, is located next to Moses Gate Country Park near Farnworth Station. The cemetery opened in 1876 and features a number of interesting Victorian and early 20th Century memorials and headstones.

The data features all 25,770 burials and the records available, from February 1876 to May 2012, comprise

burial register scans with 8 to 20 entries per scanned page
grave details providing information on all those buried in the grave as well as the grave reference
cemetery maps showing the section where the grave is located**

** Note: Farnworth Cemetery consists of three large sections, Church of England, Roman Catholic and Noncon. To help with finding graves, the grave reference and division block highlighted on the map have been based on the numerical location of the grave.

Heaton Cemetery, Gilnow Rd, Bolton BL1 4LH
The largest cemetery in Bolton in area but with slightly fewer interments than Tonge, Heaton Cemetery is located adjacent to Overdale Crematorium. Numerous grand memorials reflect the wealth and heritage of Bolton's expansion during the latter part of the industrial revolution. It is also very cosmopolitan with sections featuring most of the leading faiths as well as a diverse range of nationalities including Polish and Ukranian.

The data features all 94,557 burials from when the Cemetery opened in December 1879 until June 2012. The data available comprises:

burial register scans with 20 entries per scanned page
grave details providing information on all those buried in the grave as well as the grave reference
cemetery maps showing the section where the grave is located*

* Note: The cemetery maps provide details of the section within the cemtery where the selected grave is located. Each section or block comprises upto 100 graves. Most of the gravestones and memorials incorporate grave reference numbers so using the maps, it is relatively easy to find the searched for grave.

Horwich (aka Ridgmont) Cemetery, Chorley Old Road, Horwich, Bolton, BL6 6BD
Horwich (also known as Ridgmont) Cemetery is in a rural location, next to Ridgmont Park, on the outskirts of Horwich community, half way between Bolton and Chorley, Lancashire. The small Cemetery was opened in 1928 and includes 11 WW2 war graves.

The data features all 6,025 burials and the records available, from March 1928 until August 2006, comprise:

burial register scans with approximately 20 entries per scanned page
grave details providing information on all those buried in the grave as well as the grave reference
cemetery maps showing the section where the grave is located**

** Note: Horwich Cemetery consists of three large sections, Church of England, Roman Catholic and Noncon. To help with finding graves, the grave reference and division block highlighted on the map have been based on the numerical location of the grave.

Tonge Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Bolton, Lancashire BL2 6AG.
Tonge Cemetery was the first municipal cemetery in Bolton when it opened on New Years Eve 1856 and was known simply as Bolton cemetery. In 2002, English Heritage considered Tonge cemetery to be of sufficient historical interest to be placed on the Register of Parks and Gardens as a Grade II listed site. Its architect and landscape designer William Henderson also designed Corporation Park in Blackburn, Alexandra park in Oldham and Bolton's Queens park.

Tonge Cemetery has many impressive old memorials featuring prominent industrialists and other citizens from the area. However, perhaps the most famous burial is that of Fred Dibnah, the steeplejack who became a cult TV personality with his programmes, made in the 1980s and 1990s, on industrial heritage and engineering mostly from the industrial revolution. Dibnah died in 2004 and his memorial, together with over 4,000 others, is available in the data on the website.

Another tragic but curious burial record is that for Thomas McCarte (aka MacCarte) who died in 1872. The unfortunate Mr McCarte was a lion tamer with the visiting 'Manders Menagerie' and he had already lost an arm working in his chosen profession with Bell and Myers' Circus at Liverpool. On January 3rd, 1872, Mr McCarte, billed as 'Massarti the Lion Tamer', commenced what was to be his final performance in Bolton. You can read a rather gruesome and detailed account of his confrontation with an 'Asian Lion' in a New York Times archive, click here.

In total, there are records for over 116,600 burials, dating from opening on 31 December 1856 to November 2010. The data available comprises:

burial register scans with 20 entries per scanned page
grave details providing information on all those buried in the grave as well as the grave reference
photographs of 3,000 memorials and headstones which include approximately 15,000 names of those buried in the cemetery
cemetery maps showing the section where the grave is located*

Westhoughton Cemetery, Cemetery Street, Westhoughton, Bolton, BL5 2BG
Westhoughton Cemetery serves the local communities of Westhoughton, Hulton, Atherton, Hindley Green and others in the area and is located roughly equidistant from the large towns of Wigan and Bolton. It was opened in 1858 and features 19 war graves from both world wars and with casualties from around the UK and Canada. It also features many fine memorials and the most famous is the monument to the victims of the Hulton Colliery Disaster of 1910.

This was the third worst mining disaster ever in Britain; a massive underground explosion in the 'Pretoria Pit' at Hulton, Westhoughton caused the death of 344 miners most of whom were local to this area of Lancashire. As well as the memorial, there are graves of the victims, some identified but many not.

The data for Westhoughton Cemetery includes all 16,736 burials and the records available, from May 1858 until August 2008, comprise:

burial register scans with approximately 20 entries per scanned page
grave details providing information on all those buried in the grave as well as the grave reference
cemetery maps showing the section where the grave is located**

** Note: Westhoughton Cemetery consists of three large sections, Church of England, Roman Catholic and Noncon. To help with finding graves, the grave referenceand division block highlighted on the map have been based on the numerical location of the grave.

It should also be noted that in the 1860's a fire destroyed many of the original burial maps. Consequently it may not be possible to accurately locate a small number of plots especially if the deceased was buried in an early communal grave by the river where the graves are unmarked and there are very few headstones.

Overdale Crematorium, Overdale Drive, Chorley New Road, Bolton, Greater Manchester, BL1 5BU
The only crematorium in the Bolton area, Overdale opened in 1954. With an average of 3,500 cremations per year, Overdale is a busy crematorium with two chapels and beautiful gardens of rememberance located adjacent to Heaton Cemetery. The West Chapel was recently refurbished and the cremator equipment upgraded to comply with environmental legislation and substantially reduce emissions.

The data on Deceased Online features all 136,000 cremations from when the Crematorium opened on 11th October 1954 until 7th May 1993. The data available comprises:

cremation register scans with 10 entries per scanned page
applicant details providing information on those who arrange the cremation
the deceased's address, age, marital status, date of death, district where death was registered and whether the ashes were scattered or removed

Note: to comply with UK data protection and GDPR, addresses of the deceased are masked in burial register scans for the last 15 years.