Author: JW

The Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries volunteers have been busy clearing more graves in the older part of Sidmouth Cemetery – which has necessitated also lots of clearing brambles at the Cemetery. But just because an area is ‘older’ does not mean to say that there are not […]

The volunteers of the Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries have been busy hacking away at the brambles on the older part [or, Area 3 on the management plan] of the main cemetery. Firstly, this work is revealing hidden gravestones. As working party member Amanda O’Carroll says: “Two […]

The District Council, which owns and is responsible for Sidmouth and Sidbury Cemeteries, has recently put up a register search on its website, which “will allow you to search by name, date of death or plot number for each of our cemeteries”. Simply follow the links below […]

The Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries volunteers were hard at work yesterday just before a heavy midday shower, renovating neglected shrubs and weeding the Winslade border, ready for some new autumn planting to come.  They also took time to enjoy the wildflowers. Here’s a photo taken by […]

It’s some time since a newsletter from the Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries project was put together – and yet a fair bit’s been happening these last months. And even though there is the touch of autumn in the air, the recent rains have freshened up the […]

There have been real efforts by the volunteers of the Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries project, together with council officers, to make corners of Sidmouth Cemetery welcoming for wildlife. Last month, bat boxes went up in the Cemetery and the working party demonstrated the art of composting – thereby creating homes […]

Every town and village across the UK, Europe and much of the world have memorials, cemeteries and graves dedicated to those who died during the last two world wars – and Sidmouth (and its villages) is no exception. What is perhaps more exceptional about towns […]

Last month, we looked at the lovely Winslade Rose – since discovered to be a Queen Elizabeth variety. It was given that name by Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries volunteers because this gem had been discovered when working on the entrance from Winslade Road. Since then, the council’s horticultural […]

We probably associate Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, with the famous souls who rest in its grounds.  If we look a little deeper, at The Secret Life of a Cemetery, in a new book “from the head curator of the most famous cemetery in the world – we see a […]

One of the aims of the EDDC Management Plan 2021-25 for Sidmouth Cemetery has been to encourage wildlife – but in a ‘managed’ way, balancing the needs and uses of this special site. Even though the plan isn’t working in every detail, it’s still very […]