The exterior of Seel Street synagogue, the home of the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation from 1808-74
The cemetery on Deane Road is the property and responsibility of the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation (LOHC). Prior to moving to their current beautiful building on Princes Road in Toxteth in 1874, the congregation had worshipped in a converted house at 133 Upper Frederick Street, the back garden of which was used as a cemetery as early as 1773. Burials continued there until the establishment of Oakes Street cemetery (close to the city centre) in 1802. The congregation moved from Upper Frederick Street to a new, purpose-built synagogue on Seel Street in 1808, and continued to use Oakes Street cemetery. However, this was small and an unsuitable resting place for members of a congregation rapidly growing in both size and wealth. It was later demolished.
In 1835, a site on Deane Street in the Kensington district was purchased as a formal burial ground (it would not become Deane Road until 1865). A huge, ornate archway was built to serve as its entrance, made of brick and rendered in stucco and stone, in the Greek revival style. The archway remains to this day, now as a Grade II listed structure. In front of this was an impressive driveway, with a small stone wall and cast iron railings with spear heads (also now listed). The cemetery was consecrated and the first burials there occurred in September 1837, continuing on a regular basis until 1904. For more details on the sources of information on the number and names of those interred at Deane Road, go to the Register section of this site.
The congregation outgrew the building on Seel Street and, in 1872, work started on a new building, to be built on Princes Road. It was completed in 1874 and remains the congregation’s home today. Princes Road synagogue is world-famous for its beauty and musical tradition.
The stunning interior of Princes Road synagogue, the home of the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation since 1874 (Photo courtesy of Peter Williams at English Heritage)
In the early 20th century, as the cemetery on Deane Road became increasingly full, the congregation was, again, forced to look for more places where their deceased could rest. A site was chosen on Thomas Drive, in the Broad Green district, and this continues to be used by the congregation today, known to all as Broad Green Cemetery. After 1904, only those with reserved plots were buried at Deane Road, and the last recorded burial there took place in 1929. The ohel (prayer hall) and the caretaker’s cottage were demolished in 1952, by which time the site was already in a poor state of repair.
Past attempts at restoration
Once burials ceased at Deane Road, the site fell into disuse, then decay and dereliction on a horrendous scale. The cemetery became a target for vandals and somewhere for juvenile delinquents to gather. As well being colonised by plants, trees and brambles, the graves became strewn with litter. The cemetery was no longer a tribute to the illustrious souls buried there, but an insult.
The closest that the congregation came to restoring Deane Road was during the period 1978-80, under a plan to convert the site into a “rest centre”. The plan, which involved the uprooting of the remaining tombstones, received the backing of the London Beth Din (the most respected organisation responsible for ensuring Jewish religious law is upheld in Britain), following a visit by a dayan (judge in religious law). Liverpool Corporation proposed to grant the congregation £400,000 to cover the entire project, which would include a programme of job-creation for people based in the nearby Huyton district. The only expenditure required of the congregation was for the rental of the skips. The site was almost completely cleared of foliage and, in November 1978, local photographer Sam Lipson was commissioned to take photos of the remaining tombstones before they were taken up. Go to the Register section for a description of this collection of photos. However, the funding was withdrawn and the plan had to be shelved. The congregation could not afford the cost of the maintenance of the cemetery, particularly in the wake of the arson attack on the synagogue building in May 1979, so the Select Committee and the minister of the day, Rev Ruben Abenson, decided the site should be abandoned and the foliage allowed to re-grow indefinitely.
During this period of inaction, the congregation was forced to deal with an infestation of rats at the cemetery, and also three instances of vandalism, where the boundary wall was breached and had to be repaired.
Some years later, a proposal was brought by a local organisation for the rehabilitation of female victims of domestic violence, to buy several of the houses adjacent to the cemetery and convert the cemetery itself into a park for the use of the women whom the organisation set out to help. Again, the foliage was cleared, this time by a working party drawn from the ultra-orthodox community in Manchester. However, fate dealt another cruel hand and the two Jewish women who headed the women’s organisation were both made redundant, so the project collapsed. The foliage grew back once more.
In 1996, the congregation was generously promised funding to clear the foliage, regardless of the cost. The chairman of the Burial Board at the time, Manny Boher, employed a local firm, the foliage was cut down once more and the cemetery was given new inner gates, at a cost of approximately £10,000. The source of the original promise then only supplied £1,500, with the remaining £8,500 having to be funded by the congregation! As a result, there were, once more, no funds to maintain the site, and the project was shelved yet again.
The beginnings of the latest project
The magnificent Greek revival archway at the entrance to the cemetery, now obscured by foliage during the summer months
The magnificent Greek revival archway at the entrance to the cemetery, now obscured by foliage during the summer months
In January 2003, the congregation approached Ruth Webster of the Groundwork Trust, which specialises in projects such as this. At no cost to herself or her organisation, she set about raising money and encouraging new ideas for the future of the cemetery. For details of the funds Ruth raised, go to the Funding section of this site. Ruth used the funds raised to employ local ecologist Dave Holland to tackle the complicated problem of the Japanese knotweed that has infested the site, and commissioned various structural analyses to be carried out regarding the archway, railings and boundary wall. To see which organisations are, or have been, involved in the restoration, go to the Links section. For details of the plans for the future of the cemetery currently being discussed, go to the Plans section.
The project will require a relatively large amount of money, to cover the hire of skips and other waste disposal facilities, structural repairs and re-erection of gravestones. A discussion of the sorts of figures involved can be found in the Funding section. This is, therefore, not only a project to restore an old cemetery, but it is also a fundraising project in order to achieve this.