Cemetery Hotel

The Cemetery Hotel is a Grade II listed public house on Bury Road in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. Thought to date from the 1860s and named after the nearby Rochdale Cemetery, it retains a notably intact historic interior, shaped in part by an early 20th‑century refit, and recognised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) with a three‑star rating for "outstanding national historic importance".

The building is thought to have been constructed in the 1860s, according to its official listing.^[1] Its name was taken from the nearby Rochdale Cemetery, a public burial ground established in 1855 on former open fields and later added to the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.^[1][2] The public house was probably established in part to cater for mourners and others attending burials.^[1]

The 1910 Ordnance Survey map records it as the Cemetery Hotel public house.^[3]

In the early 20th century, the pub received a full interior refit carried out by the Crown Brewery Company of Bury.^[1] The interior is recognised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) with a three‑star rating, indicating its status as of "outstanding national historic importance".^[4]

On 20 September 2010, the Cemetery Hotel was designated a Grade II listed building.^[1]

As of February 2026, the freehold is owned by Punch Pubs.^[4]

The building is constructed in red brick, with the rear painted white, and has a shallow hipped roof covered in slate. It stands at the sharply angled end of a short terrace, where its footprint narrows to meet the corner.^[5]

The front has two storeys, while the rear rises to three. The entrance sits in the centre beneath a low arched opening and is now sheltered by a modern canvas canopy; the door is six‑panelled with a small window above it.^[1] Rooms flank the doorway, each with a wide window set under a gently curved head. These windows have Art Nouveau style stained glass in the upper sections and etched glass below, with the left one marked "WINES & SPIRITS" and the right one marked "CROWN ALES".^[5] Three windows on the upper floor follow the same curved-headed pattern, though the frames have been replaced with modern casements. A band at sill level and a dentilled band at the eaves run across the front and continue around the curved corner, where the window frames follow the sweep of the wall.^[5]

The interior is arranged around a central corridor that opens into a broad lobby with the bar at the back, from which three main rooms lead off. The porch has a mosaic floor with the pub's name and brightly coloured tiled walls, a finish repeated in the corridor and lobby. Each room is entered through a partly glazed door with its original number.^[1]

The front right room, formerly the vault and now used for pool, has a parquet floor, built‑in seating with later cushions, and a cast‑iron fireplace bearing its Rochdale maker's name.^[5] Opposite, the front left room retains four fixed seating bays divided by timber screens with glazed tops, with further screens beside the doorway. A band of panelling above includes oval panels now numbered, and the angled west wall contains a detailed fireplace with a mirrored overmantel and a dark blue tiled hearth.^[1]

At the rear left is a small snug shaped to fit the narrowing plan, with fixed seating on all sides, bell pushes above, a timber screen by the door, a reproduction fireplace and a modern serving hatch.^[5] The bar stands at the back of the lobby with a gently curved front; the structure above incorporates later stained‑glass panels and a modern back fitting. Below are extensive stone‑and‑brick cellars that open at ground level to the rear.^[5]

• Listed buildings in Rochdale