Ford Park

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Ford Park Cemetery is a 34.5acre cemetery in central Plymouth, England, established by the Plymouth, Stonehouse & Devonport Cemetery Company in 1846 and opened in 1848. At the time it was outside the boundary of the Three Towns and was created to alleviate the overcrowding in the churchyards of the local parish churches. Its official name at the time of inception was The Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse Cemetery (renamed in 2000), although it is now seldom referred to by that title.The cemetery was originally 18acre in size, but a further 16.5acre were added in 1875. It came into use during one of the largest outbreaks of cholera in the country and during its first year it saw over 400 burials related to that disease. During Victorian times it was the main cemetery for the Three Towns, and it is estimated that approximately a quarter of a million people are buried within its grounds. The older burial records have been deposited with the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office.Among the more famous graves is that of the Reverend Robert Stephen Hawker, the author of The Song of the Western Men. As at November 2016 there are 769 war graves from the First World War, over 200 of which are in a dedicated naval plot; and 198 war graves of the Second World War (including an unidentified airman) are scattered throughout the site. A Victoria Cross (VC) recipient of the Crimean War, Captain Andrew Henry, Royal Artillery, is buried here, as is another VC recipient, of the Taiping Rebellion, Quartermaster George Hinckley, Royal Navy.