West Street Cemetery (also known as Farnham Civil Cemetery) on West Street in Farnham in Surrey is one of four cemeteries in the Farnham area owned and maintained by Farnham Town Council. [1] The two Cemetery chapels have been Grade II listed buildings on the Historic England Register since 1990. [2]
A Burial Board was formed in Farnham in 1853 with the view to opening a cemetery in the town. The Board originally considered three plots of land in Farnham and at first accepted land at Willey Mill from Charles Knight; however, the total cost including the building of the two chapels would have cost nearly £3,500 and the Vestry would only sanction £3000. In May 1855 the Vestry suggested an alternative piece of land from Knight but the negotiations broke down so a plot of 15.8 acres in West Street was eventually bought from Thomas Pearce at a cost of £1200 plus £125 to buy out a Mr Mathers, a tenant on the site at the time. The Cemetery Lodge located at the original gates was built by Goddards of East Street in Farnham. The Cemetery opened in 1856. A Richard Wooderson was appointed Sexton on £10 per annum, and he moved into the lodge on 1 May 1856 with the first burial taking place on 3 May that year; during the first decade of the cemetery's existence there were about 80 to 90 burials a year. A newspaper report of 1931 records that four men were employed at the cemetery. The lodge became the first project of the Farnham Trust; the building having been condemned by Farnham Urban District Council (FUDC) the members of the Farnham Trust leased the building from FUDC, restored it and let it to a tenant. By 1980 additional restoration work was needed when internal dry rot was found. A long lease from Waverley District Council was obtained and the Trust then sold the lease. The lodge is now privately owned, and a new lodge has been built at the new entrance further along on the West Street frontage. [3]
In about 1870 the two chapels were built, one for Church of England services and the other for Nonconformist services. [2] The cemetery came under the control of the Joint Burial Committee in 1895 and Farnham Council on 27 July 1926. In 1947 an additional area of 16.2 acres was obtained of which 9.6 acres were turned over to the Cemetery for use as an additional area for burials. This new burial ground is beyond a vintage brick wall which bisects the two halves of the cemetery. A report in 1947 records that common graves with a single burial at 6 ft could be reused after about 14 years. After passing into the hands of Waverley District Council it was transferred to Farnham Town Council in 2006. [3] [4]
The West Street Garden of Reflection is a quiet area where people may sit and reflect. [5] There are a number of military burials of all three Services maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission – 23 from World War I and 17 from World War II. [3] [6] [7]
The cemetery chapels were built of random rubble with Bath stone window surrounds and a slate roof in about 1870 in the Gothic style. The front has two gables divided by a central gabled bell-cote while the rear elevation has three gables. The chapels were provided with plain wooden altars and pews. [2]
By 2013 the chapels were disused and a meeting was held to discuss their future – whether they should be converted for use as workshops, homes or community centres. [8] Today (2019) the chapels are used by a local designer as a workshop. [9]
Farnham (/ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around 36 miles (58 km) southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the Thames, and is at the western end of the North Downs. The civil parish, which includes the villages of Badshot Lea, Hale and Wrecclesham, covers 14.1 sq mi (37 km2) and had a population of 39,488 in 2011.
The town of Haslemere and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around 39 mi (62 km) south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere in the Borough of Waverley. The tripoint between the counties of Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex is at the west end of Shottermill.
The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins and P. Beddie, the cemetery is noted for its largely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments. It is regularly cited as being one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. The cemetery contains the graves of many significant Australians including the poet Henry Lawson. Also known as General Cemetery Waverley, it was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 28 October 2016.
Hale is a village in Surrey, England or part of Farnham, towards Aldershot excluding the area between the two to the east which is Badshot Lea, and without formal definition in part overlaps Weybourne and Heath End, Surrey. The history of Farnham being a vast town parish in the late medieval age means all three small places overlapping, which are difficult to class as villages, for example Farnham Youth football club is in two possible alternates, or within greater Farnham as its name suggests, and some maps give Lower Hale and Upper Hale but the area between is indistinct and all of the village is quite elevated so this extremely fine distinction unless referring to an extreme end is deprecated. On the side of the Farnham clay and sandstone range. Some housing and roads have views southward towards the Greensand Ridge from Hindhead to Ewhurst. The electoral ward Farnham Upper Hale has a population of 4,241. Often the eastern built-up (low-rise) area, Weybourne is considered separately but both localities share all amenities and form a neatly buffered settlement.
Lodge Hill Cemetery is a municipal cemetery and crematorium in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. The cemetery was first opened by King’s Norton Rural District Council in 1895, and during the 1930s became the site of Birmingham's first municipal crematorium.
Queen's Road Cemetery is a cemetery in Croydon, England. It opened in 1861, and was followed in 1897 by the larger Croydon Cemetery in Mitcham Road. Both cemeteries are now managed by the London Borough of Croydon.
Dippenhall is a rural hamlet in the civil parish of Farnham in the Waverley district of Surrey, England. The nearest town, Farnham, is about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to the east.
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Meadrow Unitarian Chapel is a Unitarian chapel in the Farncombe area of Godalming, Surrey, England. It is part of the London District and South Eastern Provincial Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, one of 16 districts within the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians.
Godalming Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house in the ancient town of Godalming in the English county of Surrey. One of many Nonconformist places of worship in the town, it dates from 1748 but houses a congregation whose roots go back nearly a century earlier. Decline set in during the 19th century and the meeting house passed out of Quaker use for nearly 60 years, but in 1926 the cause was reactivated and since then an unbroken history of Quaker worship has been maintained. Many improvements were carried out in the 20th century to the simple brick-built meeting house, which is Grade II-listed in view of its architectural and historical importance.
The former Salvation Army Hall in Godalming, Surrey, England, now an office building known as Aurum House, has been used by three religious groups since its construction c. 1830. The ancient town in the English county of Surrey has a long and diverse history of Protestant Nonconformity, and three Nonconformst denominations are represented: at first it served Congregationalists, but when they built a larger chapel in the town it passed to the Methodist Church. In the 20th century it was occupied by The Salvation Army, but it closed in 2012 and was redeveloped for commercial use. The building has been listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
The building formerly known as Godalming Congregational Church was the Congregational chapel serving the ancient town of Godalming, in the English county of Surrey, between 1868 and 1977. It superseded an earlier chapel, which became Godalming's Salvation Army hall, and served a congregation which could trace its origins to the early 18th century. The "imposing suite of buildings", on a major corner site next to the Town Bridge over the River Wey, included a schoolroom and a manse, and the chapel had a landmark spire until just before its closure in 1977. At that time the congregation transferred to the nearby Methodist chapel, which became a joint Methodist and United Reformed church with the name Godalming United Church. The former chapel then became an auction gallery before being converted into a restaurant; then in 2018 the premises were let to the Cotswold Company to be converted into a furniture and home accessories showroom. In 1991 the former chapel was listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
The building formerly known as Park Lane Chapel is a former Strict Baptist chapel in the ancient town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Now a house, it was in religious use for nearly 150 years and housed a congregation whose origins go back to informal meetings in the 1840s. After Nisan Samuel, a Polish Jew, arrived in England and converted to Christianity, he took charge of these ad hoc meetings and formalised them into a Strict Baptist church. After he moved on, the congregation bought land and built a chapel. The small stone and brick building has been listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
Barnstaple Cemetery is the burial ground for the town of Barnstaple in Devon and is managed by North Devon Council.
Green Lane Cemetery is a small cemetery on Green Lane in Farnham in Surrey, one of four cemeteries owned and maintained by Farnham Town Council.
Upper Hale Cemetery is the burial ground for the district of Hale in Farnham in Surrey.
Ash Cemetery, also known as Emery Gates Cemetery on Church Road is the burial ground for the village of Ash in Surrey, England.
Townsend Cemetery is a cemetery in Crewkerne, Somerset, England. It is owned by Crewkerne Town Council, and jointly run by the Town Council and West Crewkerne Parish Council.
Farnham Town Hall is a municipal building in South Street, Farnham, Surrey, England. It provides the offices and the meeting place of Farnham Town Council.
