Gibraltar, Gibraltar Cemetery

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Active from:
00.00.1756
Address:
Halifax Road, Gibraltar, Gibraltar
Additional information

The North Front Cemetery is located in the North District of Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is situated between the north face of the Rock of Gibraltar to the south and the airport to the north. The cemetery is located off Devil's Tower Road, just west of Devil's Tower Camp.

Also known as the Gibraltar Cemetery and the Garrison Cemetery, it was established in 1756 south of the neutral ground and the border with Spain. A French map made of Gibraltar in 1811 shows that the cemetery was well established.

The graveyard was initially divided into five sections. In addition, to those for members of theChurch of England, and Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Catholic Churches, there was a fifth section for those of other denominations.

 In May 1848, Jews' Gate Cemetery on Windmill Hill was closed to burials. After that closure, a sixth section, for Jews, was established in North Front Cemetery. In the 21st century, only three sections are present, Christian, Jewish, and unconsecrated. The North Front Cemetery is also a military cemetery, and includes the graves of those who died in the World Wars.

The North Front Cemetery is the only graveyard which is still in use in Gibraltar. In addition to the 1848 closure of Jews' Gate Cemetery, Trafalgar Cemetery fell into disuse after 1814.St. Jago's Cemetery was also closed and, by the early twentieth century, its grounds had been incorporated into the St. Jago's Barracks recreational facilities.

The authority in charge of North Front Cemetery is the Superintendent of the Cemetery. The staff includes a Keeper of the Cemetery, as well as eight gravediggers and eight people responsible for maintenance. 

In 1889, the Cemetery Act was passed; it set procedures regarding management and supervision of North Front Cemetery.

The graves of two Governors of Gibraltar are present in North Front Cemetery:

  • Lieutenant-General Sir Lothian Nicholson (1827–1893) and
  • General Sir Kenneth Anderson (1891–1959).
  • Sir Joshua Hassan (1915–1997), Chief Minister and Mayor of Gibraltar, was buried in the Hebrew section of the cemetery.

 In addition, both Thomas Henry Kavanagh (1821–1882), awarded the Victoria Cross, and George Campbell Henderson (1910–1951), who received the George Cross posthumously after the Bedenham explosion, are interred at North Front.

 Kavanaugh has the distinction of being the only recipient of the Victoria Cross buried in Gibraltar.

His gravestone was restored about 2008.

Sources: wikimapia.org

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