Understanding and Protecting Historic Burial Grounds of Minority Faith Groups
This page explains the projects Historic England is involved in about Jewish and other minority faith burial grounds.
Burial grounds perhaps represent the diversity of our entire population more completely than any other type of heritage. Yet some sites, especially those of minority faith groups are often either overlooked or poorly understood. Sites can be affected by a variety of risks, including the community that they originally served moving to other locations, or damage by vandalism, all too common in these essentially unoccupied places.
Jewish burial grounds
We have begun to address these issues by increasing the protection of some of the most significant burial grounds, with an initial focus on the often threatened historic Jewish cemeteries in England. We also commissioned research into how the Jewish community values and views historic Jewish cemeteries.
Our Post-Resettlement Anglo-Jewish Burial Grounds (1657-1950) report provides a contextual overview of historic Jewish cemeteries in England and includes assessments of individual cemeteries, memorials, and buildings, some of which have been recommended for listing.
Nonconformist burial grounds
We would like to continue this work with projects looking at Nonconformist burial grounds in England, an often hidden and under protected resource.
