Chapels and archway in St John's Cemetery, Elswick Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, c1955-c1980. An exterior view of the chapels in St John's Cemetery from the west, with the roof of the Mather Tomb on the far right side, and headstones and monuments in the foreground. The chapels and archway date to around 1856, and were designed by Johnstone and Knowles, and built with sandstone and ashlar plinth and dressings. The chapels flank the archway, which has an octagonal tower above, which has corner pinnacles and octagonal spire, which can be seen above the west chapel roof. The sides of the chapels have three bays with buttresses between each one, and the north and south fronts have large four-light windows. The cemetery was proposed by the Burial Board of St John's, Westgate and Elswick, and they hosted a competition to design two chapels, gates, fences and entrance lodges, won by Johnstone and Knowles. The first burials took place in 1857.