Southampton
Southampton Old Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Off Northlands Road, Southampton SO15 7NN
Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery
Contact FoSOC 31 Lilac Road, Bassett, Southampton SO16 3DA
send to fosoc1846@googlemail.com
Website click here
The
group was formed in 2001. The cemetery is managed by Southampton City
Council Burial and Bereavement Services and all burial records are held
at their Bugle Street Office [near the Isle of Wight Ferry terminal,
next to the Maritime Museum]. To assist visitors to the Old Cemetery, a
duplicate set of burial plot maps is held at the Hawthorns Urban
Wildlife Centre on The Common about 10 minutes walk from the cemetery.
[Telephone 023 8067 1921]. The former C of E Chapel now owned by Chapel
Design and Marketing Ltd and that firm is not connected with the
management and care of the cemetery and we request that visitors do not
enter that building [except by invitation].
The Friends group
has a series of guided walks, offers talks to clubs, societies and
schools, a grave locating and maintenance service and monthly task days
when conservation work in consultation with the council ecology team is
undertaken.
The
Cemetery was opened in 1846 and an Act of Parliament acquired the land
from Southampton Common. It was one of the earliest to be owned by a
town council. There are 116,800 burials and burials continue to
existing family plots only. The cemetery has Church of England, Non
Conformist, Roman Catholic and a small Hebrew section.
The
Friends group sits on the SCC Old Cemetery Consultative Panel and has
developed with the council a plan of ground maintenance where plots are
strimmed on a rotation basis and an agreed sapling removal plan. The
group works closely with the city ecology team based at the Hawthorns
Urban Wildlife Centre on The Common.
Associate member
SOUTHAMPTON CITY COUNCIL OLD CEMETERY CONSULTATIVE GROUP
send to phil.wells@southampton.gov.uk
The
panel meets regularly and has an annual site visit to the cemetery to
which the council cabinet member is invited to attend. The panel
includes the Hawthorns Urban Wildlife Centre [SCC], Friends of
Southampton Old Cemetery, Open Spaces Society, Southampton Commons and
Parks Protection Society and council managers.