Manchester City Council operates five cemeteries - Blackley, General (Harphurey), Gorton, Phillips Park and Southern.

Generally speaking grave plots have space for up to four coffins but sometimes this may be reduced depending on ground conditions. Plots solely for cremated remains can usually accommodate six caskets, while for those that are mixed, the number of coffins already in the plot has to be taken into consideration. 

New graves are available for purchase at Blackley, Gorton and Southern. Please click on the highlighted links below for further details regarding each individual cemeteries opening times and facillities. 

Blackley is the newest of the cemeteries, having opened in 1953. It is also contains Manchester City council's only crematorium as well as a woodland burial area. 

In contrast to Blackley, the oldest of Manchester's cemeteries is General (Harphurey) Cemetery. This was first opened as a private burial ground in 1837 and was taken over by Manchester City Council in 1966.

Phillips Park, which opened in 1866, is situated next to the River Medlock. It atracts a lot of wildlife and contains the graves of heroes from the Zulu wars of the 1870s. 

New grave plots can no longer be purchased at General and Phillips Park, but they are available at Gorton, another Victorian cemetery that opened in 1900.  

Southern Cemetery is the largest municipal cemetery in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1879 and has a Remembrance Lodge where people can pay respects and collect their thoughts, as well as have an inscription in the Book of Remembrance.

Southern Cemetery also has an environmentally friendly burial area called The Meadow, which allows for regular burials or the interment of cremated remains, but not  memorials. Instead, just a small garve marker is present and family members have the option to purchase memorial tress and roses. These are are planted around the edges of The Meadow, an area where wildlife is encouraged to thrive.

There are Manchester City council cemetery offices at Blackley and Southern cemeteries. Customer services staff there will be able to help you if you have any queries about buying new plots, adding or renovating memorials, or fees and charges. 

Manchester City Council is a BRAMM (British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons) registered Authority.

Only masons that are BRAMM registered are permitted to work in cemeteries opeated by Manchester City Council. Alberti Lupton & Co are BRAMM registered and can therefore guarantee that any work we do in Manchester's cemeteries will meet BS 8415 standards and be carried out under health and safety guidelines.

There are a complex set of charges for Manchester City Council's cemeteries.

Examples of how they vary include whether you require a service at one of the chapels, or if you wish to select a specific grave plot or be allocated one.

Fees are higher for non Manchester residents, meaning the price for a new adult grave ranges from £1684 to £3260.

Prices are reduced where the deceased is aged 18 or under, and there is no charge at all for the burial of Manchester residents under 18 in existing grave plots.

New plots for the interment of cremated remains start at £619. There is also a wide range of fees applicable when is comes to replacing memorials and adding inscriptions.

These prices were correct as of 29th October 2019. A full up to date list of all fees and charges can be downloaded here. 

There are limitations on the sizes of memorials that can be erected at Manchester City Council's cemeteries. We can assist you with this or you can contact them direct at ops.cemeteries@manchester.gov.uk

Kerbsets are not allowed in any of Manchester's cemeteries, to enable them to be kept to the highest standard of maintenance. 

Applications in relation to graves at Blackley, General, Gorton and Phillips Park cemeteries should be made to the office at Blackley Cemetery on 0161 227 3201

For graves at Southern Cemetery, there is a dedicated customers services team there, contactable on 0161 227 3205.

For email applications regarding all of Manchester's cemeteries please contact ops.cemeteries@manchester.gov.uk

There are a number of regulations for Manchester City Council's cemeteries, designed to ensure those visiting graves can do so in a safe and peaceful environment.  

Vehicles should not be parked in a way that could impact on funeral services or cemetery maitenance, no dogs are allowed except guide dogs, and filming/photography is not allowed without permission.

For a full set of rules and regulations, please contact Manchester City Council cemeteries department at ops.cemeteries@manchester.gov.uk