January 2026..

Brockhall Cemetery interest

Attempts to identify and contact relatives of people who are buried within the Cemetery have been successful and are continuing. We are pleased to have identified relatives in each of the three religiously separated sections of the Cemetery, who are generally among the post-1970 burials but we already have contacts with relatives from earlier years. We are now reaching out to the many other relatives of the deceased, neighbours, former staff of the hospital, and the congregation of St Leonard's Church as well as other interested parties who may have no previous connection with the Cemetery or the Hospital, to join us in considering the Cemetery's future. We hope to arrange a meeting in the Brockhall area in early March and would welcome contact  at calderstonescemetery@gmail.com from anybody wishing to attend the meeting or participate via the internet. For the time being we will continue to use the Calderstones Cemetery email connection, but it may be appropriate to establish a bespoke email address for Brockhall enquiries at a later date.   

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                                           Latest Brockhall Cemetery enquiries

     Informative and productive enquiries with the local representative of the current owners, have continued and we have established a good understanding of what might be involved in the future stewardship and protection of the cemetery, however that might be achieved. An incomplete but detailed history of the Cemetery from its inception in 1936/7 to current times has been established with the support of the Lancashire Archives, former staff of the Hospital  and our own old records. We are in touch with representatives of the Dunkenhalgh Estate who originally donated the land and have a copy of the latest Land Registry record of ownership of the Title, but there are still some boundary lines and responsibilities which need to be clarified. Unfortunately, attempts to contact representatives of the now redundant St Leonard's Church and the Diocese of Blackburn, both of whom, might be able to assist with our enquiries has not yet produced results. However, contact with the Church Conservation Trust who are currently responsible for maintaining the former church, but not the churchyard and St.Leonard's Cemetery have been very useful. 

 As any visitor to the Brockhall Cemetery would see, the grounds are generally well-maintained with the grass cut regularly, but the overgrown hedges and self-seeded trees, especially in the Roman Catholic section at the western end of the Cemetery need attention. After the exceptionally wet weather of recent months, there has also been concern about some waterlogging in the C section of the Cemetery variously described as the "Non-conformist," "Other religions" or "Jewish section" in the past, which will need to be closely monitored