The Hill Top Jewish Cemetery off Gelderd Road was opened in 1873, writes Mark Stevenson.
At the time it couldn’t have been the most pleasant of places to be buried as it was surrounded by Coal Pits, although up until 1850 it would have still been in Farnley Wood.
Those Coal Pits have come back to haunt the cemetery. Around 3000 people are buried there but the cemetery is unsafe as some of the graves are collapsing into the old coal workings.
On one occasion a 30ft deep hole was left after one collapse. Measures were taken to try and make the cemetery safe but to no avail and in 2008 the cemetery was closed to the public.
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