Due to the cholera epidemic of 1831 and the subsequent overcrowding of churchyards, it was decided to build new cemeteries in Sunderland after the passing of the Burial Act 1852 and 1853.

[1] All religious denominations were allotted separate areas and it soon became the town's main burial site.

[7] In the First World War, part of Ward 3 (Section A) of the cemetery was set apart for burials of servicemen.

This plot, at a central point on the path linking the cemetery's two entrances, was extended in the Second World War.

[19] The memorial to the Victoria Hall disaster, formerly situated in the cemetery and now in Mowbray Park, is also a listed building.