Ascension Parish Burial Ground
The Ascension Parish Burial Ground, formerly known as the burial ground for the parish of St Giles and St Peter's, is a cemetery off Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, England. Many notable University of Cambridge academics are buried there, including three Nobel Prize winners.
Although a Church of England site, the cemetery includes the graves of many non-conformists, reflecting the demographics of the parish in the 19th and 20th centuries, which covered much of West Cambridge.[1]
It was established in 1857 while the city of Cambridge was undergoing rapid expansion, although the first burial was not until 1869.[1] It covers one and a half acres and contains 1,500 graves with 2,500 burials.[1] Originally surrounded by open fields, it is now bounded by trees and the gardens of detached houses,[2] and is a designated city wildlife site.[1]
In 2020 it was formally closed to new burials by an Order in Council,[3] and responsibility for its upkeep was transferred to Cambridge City Council.[4]
The former chapel of rest is now used as the workshop of letter-carver Eric Marland.[5][6]
Darwin family[edit]
Five members of the family of Charles Darwin are interred here: two sons: Sir Francis Darwin[8] and Sir Horace Darwin,[8] two daughters-in-law: Lady Florence Darwin (third wife of Francis) and Lady Ida Darwin[8] (wife of Horace), and a granddaughter: Frances Cornford,[8] the daughter of Francis Darwin by his second wife, Ellen Wordsworth Darwin, née Crofts.
Charles Darwin himself is buried in Westminster Abbey.