BRISTOL
Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery
The cemetery is managed by Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust under a licence granted by Bristol City Council.
The Friends group works in close liaison with the Trust. Opened in 1840, the cemetery extends over 48 acres and was designed in the style of a Greek necropolis. There are two Doric lodges [one now converted into an office for the Trust, two chapels and several Grade II Listed memorials. The Friends came into formation from the Association for the Preservation of Arnos Vale Cemetery in 1987. A very unco-operative owner neglected the site and was envisaging a major unsuitable development of the site and after several years the matter was brought to a head when Bristol City Council took a compulsory purchase order and appointed the Trust to manage the cemetery. The owner still has the ownership of the burial records and relatives and researchers still have to enter into negotiations with the owner [and pay his fee] for any information on pre Trust formation burials on the site.
The cemetery featured in the first series of Restoration the BBC TV programme and whilst not coming first in the viewers' voting the programme resulted in a lot of interest and sympathy for the Trust and the Friends. A recent HLF award is now enabling the Trust to restore some of the buildings.
The Friends group works in close liaison with the Trust. Opened in 1840, the cemetery extends over 48 acres and was designed in the style of a Greek necropolis. There are two Doric lodges [one now converted into an office for the Trust, two chapels and several Grade II Listed memorials. The Friends came into formation from the Association for the Preservation of Arnos Vale Cemetery in 1987. A very unco-operative owner neglected the site and was envisaging a major unsuitable development of the site and after several years the matter was brought to a head when Bristol City Council took a compulsory purchase order and appointed the Trust to manage the cemetery. The owner still has the ownership of the burial records and relatives and researchers still have to enter into negotiations with the owner [and pay his fee] for any information on pre Trust formation burials on the site.
The cemetery featured in the first series of Restoration the BBC TV programme and whilst not coming first in the viewers' voting the programme resulted in a lot of interest and sympathy for the Trust and the Friends. A recent HLF award is now enabling the Trust to restore some of the buildings.
BEDMINSTER
Friends of Hebron Burial Ground
Cemetery at Bedminster, Bristol
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The group of friends was set up in 2002 following the conversion of Hebron Methodist Church into residential accommodation when it was feared that inappropriate development of the burial area would follow. The owners have left the burial ground in a neglected state despite a restrictive covenant of the land registration. The burial ground lies within a conservation area and is adjacent to the Listed building [the former church]. It is of historic interest and is the burial site of Mary Wilcocks aka Princess Caraboo.