LIVERPOOL.- In the nineteenth century, landscaped cemeteries began to replace overcrowded churchyards and burial grounds across the UK in response to rapid population growth and concerns about public health and the protection of bodies after burial. Liverpool was among the first cities to embrace the change. As the port grew, people from different countries and religious backgrounds made the city their home. Its cemeteries reflected this diversity, becoming places where families and communities expressed their faith, identity and sense of belonging through the ways in which they remembered their dead.

The exhibition is co-curated by National Museums Liverpool and the University of Liverpool and was developed by Elsa Price, Lead Curator of Archaeology at the Museum of Liverpool, Professor Harold Mytum and Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson.

In Loving Memory takes a fresh look at Liverpool’s cemeteries, exploring how people’s backgrounds, beliefs and connections to the city shaped the ways they remembered their loved ones. The exhibition brings together photos and research findings of these choices through examples from the city’s Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Greek Orthodox communities, alongside people of Welsh, Scottish, Irish, German, Spanish and Chinese heritage.

Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson said: “I look at memorials to see what they reveal about the people and communities who shaped Liverpool's history and the way their identities and experiences were expressed after death.

I hope visitors come away with a deeper appreciation of these sites as important records of Liverpool's diverse past and how these stories are still visible in the city's cemeteries today.”

Looking closely at the details found on these memorials, the exhibition explores what their different designs can tell us about the city’s cultural heritage. From the choice of materials and craftsmanship to decorative motifs and inscriptions, each monument carries traces of cultural influences.

Curator Elsa Price added: "Working with colleagues from the University of Liverpool has been a special opportunity to not only collaborate in a way which brings brand new research closer to the public, but also to delve into what can be a difficult and sensitive topic. Learning about how communities in the past memorialised their loved ones gives us a glimpse into how they saw themselves, their achievements and their hopes for the afterlife."

An interactive digital map developed by Dr Anna Fairley Nielsson explores how Liverpool’s diverse communities commemorated their loved ones across the city’s burial grounds during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, offering a closer look at sites including St James’ Cemetery, Anfield Cemetery, and Toxteth Park Cemetery, and showcases some of the other sites researched by Harold Mytum and Anna Fairley Nielsson.

Harold Mytum, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Liverpool said: “We have been teaching our students archaeological memorial recording at St James' and Toxteth Park Cemetery for many years, so it is exciting to be able to incorporate some of their efforts within the exhibition interpretation, demonstrating how teaching-related research can be used to inform the public. “

In Loving Memory provides a new way of looking at Liverpool’s changing social identities, tastes and urban life in the nineteenth century. Through the stories written into its cemeteries, the exhibition invites visitors to explore what these places reveal about the city’s past and their role in the city today.

The exhibition is free to visit and is on until March 2027, with a programme of activities.