York Cemetery Trust was formed following the collapse of the roof of the original mortuary Chapel in 1984 and after two and a half years of planning, negotiation and fund-raising, the Crown Commissioners sold York Cemetery to the Trust for a nominal sum. On 13 February 1987, the Trust became the owners of the new freehold of the whole site with the responsibility of continuing the burial business, using the site for education purposes and restoring the Chapel and Gatehouse.

Trustees 2024

Richard Keesing (Chairman); Robert Jenkinson; Michael Ayres;

Angela Johnson; Jenifer Hildyard; Michelle Burns;

Maureen Vevers, and Gordon Eastham.

Mission Statement

(i) To hold, operate and maintain York Cemetery for the public benefit as a cemetery for the decent burial of the dead and proper maintenance of its graves, monuments, buildings, grounds and landscape.

(ii) To develop, conserve and manage the landscape and natural life in York Cemetery for the recreation and pleasure of the public in exploration of the natural life in the Cemetery.

(iii) To advance the education of the public by making available materials for the study of the lives and significance of those buried in York Cemetery and their monuments by collecting, storing and making available information on the genealogies, conditions and life-styles of the inhabitants of York and related areas through the ages and by establishing and managing a museum and display material to demonstrate issues related to the history of York Cemetery and those buried therein.

(iv) To do all such other things as are necessary to the attainment of the above subjects or any of them.