Many of our cemeteries are beautiful outdoor spaces – with these valuable sites offering a treasury of both history and nature, also to be found in the Sid Valley’s cemeteries.
Sidmouth Cemetery
There is some discussion as to whether the main cemetery in the Valley can be described as a ‘garden cemetery’. The Garden Cemetery Movement emerged when the many cemeteries created as a result of the 1853 Act were planned with either a picturesque layout or a grid pattern or both.
Looking at the history of the Cemetery on this website, we can see the geometrical layout of the cemetery with its walks, paths and borders, as well the later planting of evergreens near the chapels.
The cemetery gardens of Europe [eg: Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris] and the States were also considered as rural cemeteries – and the Sidmouth Cemetery was certainly positioned in the rural outskirts of town as can be seen in the map.
However, at the SVA’s History Group from January 2024, there was a discussion on the Sidmouth cemetery in relation to the Victorian Garden Cemetery movement, and it was felt that “it seems unlikely to have been a garden cemetery”.
Certainly looking at the South West’s oldest garden cemetery in Amos Vale in Bristol, a magnificent example of the genre can be very much appreciated today – and perhaps the volunteers of the CSC working party at the Sidmouth Cemetery can find inspiration there as they painstakingly restore the site to some of its former glory.
Dissenters of Sidmouth
For a very different type of ‘green space’ in the Sid Valley, there is the fascinating Dissenters’ Burial Grounds in the very centre of town.
It is over a decade ago when work on restoring the garden cemetery started:
And last year, the final touch of the Peace Garden mural was unveiled at Dissenters Hall in Sidmouth:
Here’s a video to show the work which went into it – of the Dissenter Peace Garden Mural – YouTube
…
Around and about the Sid Valley
There are other places which have some sort of ‘garden’ attached or integral to their purpose.
For example, very recently there have been discussions about creating a new Community Peace Garden for Sidmouth Methodist Church, where “hopefully we can all look forward to seeing the waste area to the side of the church hall become an asset for the church and wider community”.
Finally, though, perhaps the best judge of ‘gardens’ would be Sidmouth in Bloom – and back in 2021 at their presentation of local awards in ‘celebration of achievement’, several went to local churches in recognition of their contributions:
Church Gardens: Silver Gilt: St Peter’s, Sidford, Parish Church of St Giles and St Nicholas, Sidbury. Gold: Sidmouth Methodist Church
Biodiversity Garden: The Parish Church of St Giles and St Nicholas.
Congratulations all – and looking forward to future celebrations!
…