WILLIAM STANDISH STANDISH

VAULT OF WILLIAM STANDISH STANDISH

William Standish Standish was a person of nobility and was one of the first people to be buried at Hillside.  He was buried in July 1856 and local myth says that he fell over the cliff whilst riding his horse, but records show he died as a result of an illness in his bed at his home at Cocken Hall.  

RECTOR GREY

 RECTORY GREY'S GRAVE

Rector Grey is buried at Hillside.  His tomb was initially surrounded by iron railings but they have long since been removed.  There are large yew trees growing next to his grave.  Rector Grey consecrated Hillside in 1854 after alot of controversy.  His main rival during the controversy was Thomas Usherwood Robinson.  We are led to believe that whilst Rector Grey lay dying in his bed he could hear the rock face being blasted in order that he could be buried.

THOMAS USHERWOOD ROBINSON

Robinson was one of the main objectors in the controversy over the site.  He was also at the time actually the church warden.  It was a controversial thing for him to go against the rector.  He was a well off man and the Robinson family owned the Brewery in Houghton.  They moved to Sedgefield to Hardwick Hall which is where he stayed until he died.  It took 2 weeks to auction off all of his belongings as he had so much.  He died in 1888 and his burial at Hillside was conducted by Rector Grey.  It is ironic to think that he ended up at Hillside.  The records show that the Rector didn’t do many of the burials as it was usually the curate so the fact that the Rector carried out this burial was really strange.  

THE BECKWITHS

General William Beckwith and his wife Priscilla Maria Beckwith and his brother John Beckwith are buried at Hillside. He was in the Hussars in the Army.  When he was a young man the Bristol riots were raging and General Beckwith and his men were called out to put the rioters down.  General Beckwith and his men galloped along and chopped everyone’s heads off.  He is buried along with his wife Priscilla Maria Beckwith.  They lived in Hopper House in Silksworth and Lady Priscilla Beckworth was responsible of the founding of the catholic community in Silksworth. Lady Beckworth was a catholic and buried in a Church of England churchyard. The reason being as there was no where else to be buried.  The headstone at Hillside has the Beckwith coat of arms upon it.

EDWIN PLACE

Edwin Place was the Sexton of Hillside.  The group have received some information from Mr Place’s grandson  of when he visited his grandfather at the lodge at Hillside.  Mr Place’s grandson says he remembers staying with his grandparents.  His grandmother would often ask him to go and get his grandfather for his supper.  Mr Place’s grandson was frightened of entering the site as it was spooky. Hillside was also full of goats which of course would keep the grass down.  He also hated the smell of the geraniums which were grown in greenhouses at Hillside entrance.  He still associates his fear of the site with the smell of this flower.

GEORGE WHEATLEY

  GEORGE WHEATLEY

George Wheatley was a Crimean war veteran.  He died in December 1906.  The name Wheatley is well known in Houghton as in that he was the founder of the sweet factory in Houghton Le Spring.  He had 2 wives throughout the duration of his life.  The first died in childbirth and he fathered approximately 10 children with her and he went on to father another 10 with his second wife.  His second wife is buried with him at Hillside The leg isn’t buried with him!  From what is understood he was quite a colourful character.  His mother in law is also buried in the grave with George and his second wife.  He was in the battle of the Alma in the siege of Sebastopol during the Crimean war, a young lad of 19 on board a ship, the cannon on the ship back fired and blew off his leg so the rest of his life he had to walk around with a wooden leg.  He was pensioned out of the navy and returned to returned to Scotland where he ran pubs and eventually found his way to Houghton Le Spring and opened his sweet business.

Sir GEORGE ELLIOTT

SIR GEORGE ELLIOTT PICTURED ABOVE                                                                         

Of the vaults that were blasted into the rock face Sir George Elliott’s vault is the largest.  He was the local MP for NW Durham in 1870’s and his residence was at Houghton Hall.  He lived in Shiney Row as a lad and his job was a trapper down the pit.  He would go down the mine and open the doors when the miners came along with the tubs.  He used a quarter of his wages to fund evening classes and this is how his education was paid for.  He then went on and became a self made man.  He was very influential as an MP and worked for the Egyptian government and advised on various financial matters.  He also advised our Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to invest in the Suez Canal which resulted in England having control over the shipping routes in India.  He owned the company the Atlantic Cable Company which laid the first Atlantic cable.  On a more local level he arranged for a local company to assist in the building of Big Ben.  The vault dates from 1861.  George Elliott’s daughter died in Houghton Le Spring.  It is believed that her dress caught fire one evening when she was dressing for a party.  The fire swept through Houghton Hall and she died – at quite a young age.  She was the first to be buried in the vault.  When her funeral took place her relatives came from far and wide.  Some of the relatives were from Sedgefield and it is believed while they were at the funeral their home caught fire so if it hadn’t been for them attending the funeral they would have died in the fire.

  FURTHER PICTURE OF SIR GEORGE ELLIOTT

BULLDOZED HEADSTONES

Pictured above is a scene of how the Plateau area of Hillside looked before the headstones were removed and buried and the plateau area levelled.  Before this act took place the plateau was very uneven as you can see from this picture.

THE CEMETERY KEEPERS LODGE & LYCH GATE

The original entrance to Hillside Cemetery was through the neighbouring Hillside Farm.  In 1873 the rocke was blasted away and the Lych Gate and Lodge were added to the site. 

The 1881 Census records that William Reid, Parish Sexton lived at the lodge with his wife and daughter.

A trade directory from 1895 records that Georeg Brown, Sexton lived at the lodge and from the late 1890's until the 1920's Edwin Place was Sexton and lived at the lodge.  At the time of Edwin Place, goats were tethered at Hillside in order to keep the grass down.

Bill Scott was the grave digger in the 1930's and he also resided in the lodge.  It is understood that Bill was a drinker but not in public houses.  Instead his wife would make home brew in the cellar of the lodge.  One day a shelf collapsed and Mrs Scott cut her hands and knees.  Unfortunately she contracted blood poisoning and died.

Mr Ely looked after the cemetery in the 1940's and older residents of Houghton have recollections of him chasing mischevious children away from the site.  From the late 1950's until early 1960's Mr & Mrs Green occupied the lodge.  Unfortunately it was vacant by 1964 and it now lies derelect.  All that remains today is the outer wall which can be seen from the roadway.

The Lych Gate was damaged in the 1960s during a road traffic accident.  Sunderland Street became a dead end when the A690 was opened and the Lych Gate soon became overgrown and covered in ivy as Hillside seemed to become forgotton about.  The entrance to Hillside was no longer easily accessible and its visitors few and far between.

Once the Friends Group was formed the ivy was once again removed from the Lych Gate and the damage caused in the road traffic accident revealled to the group.  However the damage was restored when the Lych Gate and Railings were restored in 2006/7 by the group as part of their Back to Life project.  There are pictures of the restored gate and railings on the page within this site headed projects past and present.

AIR RAID SHELTER

The air raid shelter is located just within the entrance of the site.  It was recently re-painted before Open Day 2008.  Of late it has been used by the night visitors to the site to shelter in.  It has also had a fire lit inside and the charcoal remenents still remain there.  It has also been subjected to large amounts of graffitti which included posters stating 'Your Country Needs You' and 'Join the RAF' which encouraged more graffitti in the way of spray painted Nazi signs.  The group did discuss the possibility of demolishing it before they were aware of what it actually was however these plans have since been put on hold until the group can obtain more information about it.  For the time being the posters have been removed and the outside repainted to make it look more presentable!

Pictured above is the Air Raid Shelter before it was painted in readiness of Open Day 2008

COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES

Until 1962 the there were 4 war graves located at Hillside.  However due to the site becoming overgrown and neglected the War Graves Commission decided to move the headstones and they were re-located at the municipal cemetery on Durham Road, Houghton Le Spring.

   Frederick Henry Place

 

  Frederick William Wheatley

 

  Arthur Ernest Richardson

 

  James Place