THIS week MARTIN GREENWOOD looked at the stories of some of the ‘Bradford worthies’ buried at Undercliffe Cemetery. Here he explores the story of the man behind the historic site...

The unsung hero of Undercliffe Cemetery is without a doubt, its designer, William Gay (1814-1893).

He was the 19th century version in cemetery design of Capability Brown, the great 18th century designer of stately home gardens. His name appears everywhere in the designs of prominent cemeteries in the North of England.

Most of his life he lived in Undercliffe, where the cemetery is now generally considered one of the most striking examples of Victorian funerary design.

Born in Ross-on-Wye, William moved to Leicester where in 1849 he was clerk of works at the new Welford Road Cemetery. While at Leicester, he was approached by the Bradford Cemetery Company to become its first registrar and manager. He moved to Bradford to design Undercliffe Cemetery, which opened in 1854.

His advice was frequently valued by Bradford Corporation. For example, when they needed a new municipal cemetery in 1857, he assisted them in selecting Scholemoor from four proposals, because his surveys showed that it was both cheaper and more suitable for drainage than the alternatives. In 1871 he won contracts for broader landscaping work in Manningham Park (later Lister Park) and then for Saltaire Park (later Roberts Park).

In 1873 he managed contracts for work at Brighouse Cemetery and Pudsey Cemetery. In 1874 he landscaped Lawnswood Cemetery in Leeds. Again in Bradford, in 1876 he designed the layout of Horton Park.

Beyond West Yorkshire, he won in 1865 a competition to design the grounds of Toxteth Park Cemetery in Liverpool, opening the following year. In 1863, he again won a competition for the new Philips Park Cemetery in Manchester, which opened in 1866. In 1867 Gay laid out Belfast City cemetery in the form of a bell (possibly reflecting the ‘Bel’ in Belfast) and it opened in 1869.

All the while he was managing Undercliffe Cemetery, with regular improvements and extensions such as two chapels in 1878.

Gay’s own headstone is very simple – ‘In Loving Memory of William Gay, his Wife, his Son and his Mother’. No dates, no family names, no mention of what he did and no embellishments.

For the man who designed this nationally recognised historic cemetery, and who was held in the highest respect, one assumes he could have had the pick of the site... yet his grave is in a modest site away from the grand designs of the main terrace.

Source: www.undercliffecemetery.co.uk

n Martin Greenwood’s book Every Day Bradford provides a story for each day of the year about people, places and events from Bradford’s history. It is available from online stores and bookshops including Waterstones and Salts Mill.