One of town’s under-appreciated gems (From Keighley News)

One of town’s under-appreciated gems

7:10am Thursday 9th July 2009

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A man tends a grave in Utley Cemetery a century or so ago, in front of a chapel since demolished.

Utley Cemetery was consecrated in 1857 by the Lord Bishop of Ripon, the Keighley Parish Churchyard being no longer adequate for a growing population.

In those days Keighley had no public parks, so people took pleasure in “walking round the cemetery” — which remains indeed one of the town’s under-appreciated gems, virtually both a sculpture park and an arboretum.

The prominent structure towards the right background is the mausoleum of the Butterfield family of Cliffe Castle, while the white obelisk at the far right commemorates worsted spinner and manufacturer James Lund, of Malsis Hall.

He is best remembered for having given the land for Lund Park, opened in 1891, but more intriguingly had joined the fledgling Keighley Cricket Club in 1848 by tendering “a Cricket Ball, nearly new (submitted for inspection)” in lieu of a subscription!

The photograph, from a postcard produced by local newsagent A H Tatham, has been supplied by Kevin Seaton, of Shann Lane, Keighley.

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