Ford Park

Ford Park is closely associated with a striking piece of mid-19th-century history: Ford Park Cemetery in central Plymouth. Spanning 34.5 acres (140,000 m²), the grounds were established by the Plymouth, Stonehouse & Devonport Cemetery Company in 1846 and opened to the public in 1848. At the time of its creation the cemetery lay beyond the boundary of the Three Towns and was specifically conceived to ease the severe overcrowding in the churchyards of the local parish churches. Its official title on inception was The Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse Cemetery, a name now seldom used. The cemetery’s expansive scale and its origins in a period of rapid urban change make it a notable landmark in the area’s story, quietly marking an important civic response to the pressures of the era. For visitors drawn to history and place, the cemetery offers a direct link to Plymouth’s 19th-century development and to the practical decisions that shaped the city’s landscape.