Fresh information has come to light in the case of a mysterious overgrown cemetery in Eccles.
On Thursday 4 June, SalfordOnline.com ran a story about the sorry state of the neglected Barton upon Irwell Roman Catholic Cemetery, hidden behind a high brick wall and locked gates on Peel Green Road near Barton Swing Bridge.
The investigation continues into who actually owns the land: this, at least, remains a mystery for now.
However, courtesy of researcher Laurence Gregory, in our archives we have burial registers from 1823-1948 for the area of Barton, which have provided some fascinating insight into the families lain to rest here.
We learn that the Catholic cemetery was opened in 1820 on land donated by Squire Thomas Trafford from nearby Trafford Hall.
It was served from and attached to the All Saints Mission in Trafford Park.
We now know the graveyard was laid out to contain 276 graves, some privately owned and the remainder being unmarked Paupers Graves belonging to the parish.
The ground remained unconsecrated until 14 June 1879 when Monsignor Kershaw and Father Sharrock undertook the ceremony.
That same year, the nearby Peel Green Municipal Cemetery opened with a dedicated Catholic burial section ,and the Barton Cemetery gradually fell into disuse, although burials in private graves continued until it was closed for good in 1948.
In 1978 a complete record of all Monumental Inscriptions in the cemetery was compiled by two local men, Stanley Finkhill and Tom Beine, which have been cross referenced with the official burial registers.
Thanks to the work of Laurence Gregory we have a complete alaphabetical list of each person buried here, along with their cause of death. Thankfully, there is also an index of what the medical term for that particular cause of death means today.
Some of the more unusual ones include Henry McGawly, a five-week old baby from Patricroft who died of a “frog on the stomach” in 1842. This is the old term for a cancer or hernia.
John Gaston, 89, of Oldfield Lane, died in February 1824 of “General Decay”, or old age as we would know it.
The death of 30-year-old Samuel Henshaw of Pendleton in January 1842 was attributed to “Insanity”, while poor Mary Cropby of Patricroft departed this life at the age of 48 in July 1842 due to “The Turn of Life”, which would be known today as the menopause.
Teenager James Kay, of Barton, died of a disease happily long eradicated in this country: scurvy, which caused the 14-year-old to bleed to death.
Another long-gone condition did for Mary Hamley of Eccles, who passed away age 39 in June 1845.
Her cause of death is listed as “St Anthony’s Fire”. This was the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, which was normally down to eating rye and wheat infected with fungus. It would cause excruciating pain, gangrene and hallucinations.
Despite the titillating information, our real quest is to find out who owns this land so it can be cleaned up and returned to its former glory.
The SalfordOnline.com investigation continues.
