Ancient burial ground at Macclesfield Cemetery protected by works

An ancient burial ground has been protected by improvement work at Macclesfield Cemetery.

Cheshire East council, which manages the cemetery, is carrying out work to improve the environment for visitors.

The work will ensure that an important historical monument is maintained respectfully in the cemetery.

The ancient burial mound – known as a tumulus – is situated next to the Bollinbrook gateway, which has become overgrown.

Council bosses say as a result the cemetery has become a target for antisocial behaviour.

The works have involved thinning out the overgrowth to allow more light in. This results in clear sight lines across the tumulus.

Coun Sam Gardner said: “The tumulus is a vital part of our history in this wonderful Victorian cemetery.

“We will continue to work with our colleagues in the police and community warden service to deter antisocial behaviour in the cemetery and help to make it an attractive and welcoming environment.”

The tumulus, also known as a barrow, is referred to in a book by J D Sainter in 1878 named ‘The Jottings of some Geological, Archaeological, Botanical, Ornithological and Zoological Rambles Round Macclesfield, Cheshire County Sites and Monuments Record’.

It states: “Behind Mount Pleasant, Prestbury Road, there is to be seen a tumulus which when explored a few years since, yielded a Neolithic or later-stone age burial [now known to be Bronze Age]. At the foot of the mound westward, there are the remains of a peat bog; and an oblong block of greenstone, weighing 25 pounds, was taken out of it, that had been used by the ancient Britons as a hand-grain rubber or triturating stone.”

When the burial mound was explored, under layers of sand and gravel, there was a heap of boulders that formed a burial cairn.

The monuments record states: “Upon three stones placed in the centre and at the bottom of the pile there was a collection of calcinated human bones and teeth, and between two stones placed on the north east side of the bones, there was picked up a highly polished flint saw, with a very fine serrated edge.”