When the old section of the burial ground was consecrated in 1855, it was formally named Wednesfield New Burial Ground–in relation to St Thomas’ Churchyard being full–and was accessed via Cemetery Road, which ran from Wolverhampton Road to the cemetery gates.

As time passed, the burial ground was extended to the rear, and over 130 years later, the driveway to this newer section was named Memory Lane. With no sign marking the burial ground’s historic name, locals gradually began referring to the whole ground as ‘Memory Lane Cemetery’.

From Wednesfield … to Lands

When the burial ground was consecrated, the driveway now known as Memory Lane began at what would have been an access road to the agricultural furlongs beyond.

Graiseley Lane began at Church Bridge and ran relatively straight until it turned into a private lane that run along the rear of the oldest part of the cemetery. From there, it branched off in a northwesterly direction. A diagram in the 1855 Conveyancing of Land, instructed by landowner James Bartholomew Pidgeon, described the lane as going ‘from Wednesfield … to Lands’.

Cemetery Walk

By the time Bob Pearson set up Pearson Gearboxes in 1974-75, the burial ground had been extended to the rear, and the original cemetery gates had fallen out of use. The driveway providing access to the newer parts of the burial ground was called Cemetery Walk.

It was still listed as Cemetery Walk in 1981, as shown in this newspaper advert for Marcox and Co., who sold pet food. 

Cemetery Lane

The sign to Cemetery Walk was tucked away on the low wall opposite Pearson’s Gearboxes. Bob remembers how one day, without warning, the council turned up and swapped the sign to one that read ‘Cemetery Lane’.

At that time you could reach New Cross Hospital by cutting through from Cemetery Lane—though it wasn’t for the faint-hearted. Simon Hamilton remembers the darker evenings when he would meet his mom after her shifts at the hospital, the burial ground overgrown and lit only by a single street light!

Bob Pearson remembers the cut-through from Cemetery Lane to New Cross being blocked off with concrete fencing following a spate of car break-ins in the hospital car park. However, the fences were easy to scale by inserting makeshift steps between the horizontal concrete panels, and so the boundary was later reinforced with high metal fencing meaning this route was closed off for good.

Memory Lane

A residential home was built at the end of the lane, and it appears ‘Cemetery Lane’ was no longer deemed a fitting address. In 1991, there was a competition to come up with a new name and Wodensfield Primary School pupil Jamie O’Keeffe won cinema tickets for suggesting the name ‘Memory Lane’.

‘Memory Lane Cemetery’

Due to the lack of signposting, over the past 34 years, locals have come to refer to the burial ground as ‘Memory Lane Cemetery’. However, this name is only in reference to the renamed driveway, and unfortunately, has no historical accuracy.