The original layout of the General Cemetery was inspired by stylistic and practical changes in garden and landscape design over the course of the 19th Century. The picturesque style was adopted for the specific purpose of a cemetery: a garden of the dead.
Cemetery Design in the Early 19th Century
Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, which opened in 1804, provided an early example and prototype for cemetery design which became influential in England. It was established on a hilly site to the east of Paris centre. The cemetery was always intended for use by all people, regardless of race or religion. The design, by neoclassical architect Alexandre-Theodore Brongniart (1739-1813), was itself inspired by English-style gardens. It included undulating paths at various levels lined by stone graves and monuments and featured a diversity of trees and other planting.
Early private cemetery developments in England included Charlton Row, Manchester (1821) and Low Hill and St. James, both Liverpool (1825 and 1829). These cemeteries were near the town centres and were designed to attract regular visitors. The Manchester scheme was initially very profitable. The Liverpool cemeteries were both designed by a prominent local architect, John Foster. The landscapes were laid out by John Shepherd, the first curator of Liverpool Botanic Gardens. Both are in former stone quarries and include catacombs, as well as being laid out in a ‘picturesque and irregular appearance’. These are design features which were adopted in Sheffield General Cemetery.
Developing the Classical Porter Valley
The site which became General Cemetery was a disused quarry, sloping up towards the south from the Porter Brook. It would have originally afforded uninterrupted views of the surrounding countryside as well as towards the Botanical Gardens and Broomhill on the opposite side of the valley.
Early 19th Century developments of the Porter Valley were inspired by an idealised interpretation of classical architecture from Ancient Greece and Rome and the English-Garden movement of the 18th and 19th Centuries. The area of Broomhill, outside of the messy and busy town centre, was developed in this fashionable style with homes, schools, and churches for the middle classes. Developers were a connected community of local designers (including architects, draughtsmen, and gardeners) and townsman (who financed the various schemes). Examples of buildings from this time include: the Mount (William Flockton, 1830-1832), the Botanical Gardens (Robert Marnock, 1836) and the former Wesleyan College (now King Edward VII School, also William Flockton, 1838).