Burnsland Cemetery

Burnsland Cemetery is a 13 ha (32 acres) urban cemetery in Calgary, Alberta, Canada containing about 22,000 graves.[1] It is located in the city's southeast in the predominantly industrial district of Manchester, and is the burial place for many of Calgary's First World War veterans.[1]

The cemetery is named after Patrick Burns, one of the Big Four founders of the Calgary Stampede.[2] Burns was a local rancher and meat packer who donated the land to the city in 1922.[1][3] Along with St. Mary's Cemetery, Union Cemetery, Chevra Kadisha (Jewish) Cemetery, and the Chinese Cemetery, Burnsland Cemetery is recognized by Heritage Calgary as a culturally significant historical landscape,[4] and every summer the city offers guided walking tours through the cemetery district.[5]

History

Burnsland Cemetery was established in 1923 when the Union Cemetery established 40 years earlier began to run out of space as the city expanded.[1] It was designed in the style of Victorian garden cemeteries which sought to create a welcoming park-like area for residents to visit.[3] Like the Union Cemetery, many of the city's earliest pioneers and settlers were buried here.[6]

The cemetery contains a field of honour administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission where one First World War casualty and 197 Second World War casualties are buried.[7] The majority of the Second World War burials are airmen who died during training at nearby Royal Air Force facilities.[7] The field of honour is also the location of a Cross of Sacrifice, 25 of which are in Canada.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d City of Calgary Parks Management. "Burnsland Cemetery". calgary.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  2. ^ Dictionary of Canadian Biography. "Burns, Patrick – Volume XVI (1931–1940)". biographi.ca. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  3. ^ a b c City of Calgary Heritage Planning. "Discover Historic Calgary resources". calgary.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  4. ^ Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources. "Inventory". Heritage Calgary. Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  5. ^ City of Calgary Parks Management. "Cemetery tours". calgary.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  6. ^ City of Calgary Parks Management. "History of Calgary Cemeteries". calgary.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  7. ^ a b Commonwealth War Graves Commission. "Cemetery Details". CWGC. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.

51°01′30″N 114°03′18″W / 51.02500°N 114.05500°W / 51.02500; -114.05500