Archaeology students recorded one of the areas in Toxteth Park Cemetery as part of their archaeology field methods module. This paper described the process and assesses preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of this activity both as a pedagogic experience and as a contribution the recording and long-term management of the cemetery. Toxteth Park, as with most cemeteries in Liverpool, is managed by the local authority but is also supported by a friends’ group; it is listed on Historic England’s Parks and Gardens Register. This activity can provide both a focus and a test-bed for wider community involvement. The nature and quality of the data is also reviewed, and compared with churchyard recording projects undertaken in the past in the York area. The cemetery data is largely derived from a couple of decades of the 19th century as that was the period when this area was in heaviest use; in contrast a similar sample size from a churchyard generally covers a much longer period. The potential for analysis and interpretation is therefore significantly different in these different contexts.