At a unique ceremony held last month the Vicar of Clifton, the Rev. Hedley Richardson, blessed the cholera burial ground in East Dene.
The tiny piece of land on Park Road is now bordered by new wrought-iron fencing and has two new signs. These detail both the history of the site and the names, where known, of the Rotherham people who were buried there during two national cholera outbreaks in the 19th century.
The work has been carried out by the Rotherham South Area Assembly and Rotherham Investment and Development Office, and involved both local historians and residents in the improvements to the graveyard, which lies between two houses.
The small plot, with its laid-down headstones, marks the communal grave of 22 people, including an unknown stranger, who died during the 1832 cholera outbreak. A further eight people, including a local doctor, were also buried on the plot in 1849 when Rotherham and the rest of the country was once again hit by this horrible disease.
It is believed that approximately 140,000 people died in the UK from cholera during the 19th century, with 23,000 deaths in the 1831-32 epidemic and 53,000 in the 1848-49 outbreak. Cholera was first noted in Britain in 1831 and had devastating effects on the population over the following three decades.
Caused by a bacterial infection of the small intestine, the disease was said to have entered Britain from the Baltic ports with Sunderland the first British port to be affected. Contracted through contaminated food or untreated water, it was transmitted throughout Britain, predominately in urban areas, at a time of poverty, overcrowding and poor sanitation.
The germ associated with cholera was isolated in 1884 and a vaccine was available in 1914. Cholera is still present today, mostly in areas where sanitary conditions and hygiene are poor, such as Africa, Central and South America, and in areas affected by wars and outbreaks of other diseases.
Coun. Barry Dodson, Chairman of the Rotherham South Area Assembly, said he was delighted that so many groups and organisations had worked together to improve this important piece of Rotherham's history. He added: "Although not widely known, this little corner of East Dene is the final resting place of a group of Rotherham residents and it is only right that they have dignified surroundings."
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