Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery

• Country United Kingdom
• Total identified casualties 1013 Find these casualties
• Region Yorkshire
• Identified casualties from First & Second World War
• GPS Coordinates Latitude: 53.98543, Longitude: -1.49527

Location information

Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery is located south-east of Harrogate, on the fringe of the town, just off the A661 on Forest Lane.

Visiting information

ARRIVAL

All routes to the cemetery and parking area are signposted.

PARKING

There is a small parking area for 3 to 4 vehicles in front of the main entrance into the CWGC section of the cemetery, off Forest Lane.

There are multiple spaces to park within Stonefall Cemetery and Crematorium, through the main cemetery entrance on Wetherby Road (A661).

ACCESS LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE

The main entrance into the CWGC plot from Forest Lane is approximately 1.5 metres wide, through a double metal gate. The right-side gate is opened by turning the handle clockwise. The left side gate can be opened by lifting a vertical handle to allow both sections to be opened. There is a metal gate stop located at the centre of the entrance. The gate sections open inwards and is in line with the Stone of Remembrance in the centre of the plot.

Access is also possible along the boundary of the civil cemetery and the CWGC plot. There are grassed pathways on either side of a formal hedge in line with the Stone of Remembrance, at the midpoint of the western side of the plot.

There are two small two-step stairs on either side of the Stone of Remembrance, which can be bypassed on either side up sloped grass.

The CWGC plot is large, rectangular and slopes upwards from the northern end, where the shelter building is located, up to the Cross of Sacrifice at the southern end of the plot.

The shelter building is accessed via six steps from either side of the central opening arch. A decorative handrail is located on the exterior of the steps. The central arch has a two-leaf tall, 1.5 metre metal gate that opens into the building. There is a metal gate stop in the centre of the opening. There are multiple wooden benches located inside the shelter.

The Register Box is located inside the shelter building, in the left side wall.

There is a timber bench located along the perimeter of the plot, between the shelter and the entrance. There is another timber bench at the boundary of the civil cemetery, opposite the Stone of Remembrance, against the formal hedge.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS

A second access route through the main gates of the cemetery. It is possible to drive a vehicle into the cemetery and park near to the chapel or in parking areas near the chapel.

The main route is tarmac and sloped, it leads directly to the municipal area, where there are scattered CWGC headstone and a small long formal plot of CWGC graves to the north of the chapel.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The cemetery is permanently open when accessed from Forest Lane.

History information

Many airfields were established in Yorkshire during the Second World War, among them R.A.F. station at Harrogate, Linton-on-Ouse, Tockwith, Rufforth and Marston Moor. No. 6 (R.C.A.F.) Bomber Group, had their headquarters at Allerton Park near Knaresborough and all the stations controlled by this group were in the area north of Harrogate, the largest base having its headquarters at Linton-on-Ouse.

Nearly all of the 988 Second World War burials in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery are of airmen, two-thirds of them Canadian. (1 of the burials is an unidentified R.A.F. airman), Many of these men died in the military wing of Harrogate General Hospital. During the early months of the war, a piece of land was set aside for service war burials in Sections 20E and 21E and in July 1943, the Air Forces Section was opened at the north-eastern corner of the cemetery for burials from airfields in Yorkshire and the north-eastern counties. A few of the war graves from this period are scattered elsewhere in the cemetery.

There are also 23 servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated at Harrogate Stonefall. This total includes six casualties alternativley commemorated by special memorial because their graves in churchyards elsewhere* could no longer be maintained.

* Edlington (St Peter) New Churchyard ; Denholme Wesleyan Reform Chapelyard.