Smallcombe Cemetery

General view of the cemetery grounds.

Smallcombe Cemetery is situated on the edge of Bath, Somerset, England, in a valley between Widcombe Hill and Bathwick Hill. The cemetery consists of two distinct parts, the Anglican section known as St Mary's Churchyard and the non-conformist section known as Smallcombe Vale cemetery. They are sometimes known together as Smallcombe Garden cemetery. The two cemeteries have been closed to new burials since 1988 and they are maintained by Bath and North East Somerset Council.^[1] The Bath Corporation assumed responsibility for both cemeteries in 1947. In 1977 the caretakers lodge, described as The Lodge, Bathwick Cemetery, BA2 6DD, was sold for £800 without water or drainage.^[2]

St Mary the Virgin Churchyard

Smallcombe Anglican Mortuary Chapel

This churchyard is situated at the end of a private road leading from Horseshoe Lane, Bathwick. The Duke of Cleveland released the land at the southern end of Sydney Buildings for the St Mary the Virgin Churchyard which replaced the previous churchyard situated on the corner of Bathwick Street and Henrietta Road which had been closed in 1825.^[3]

Thomas Fuller (1823–1898) was employed as the architect with George Mann as the builder of the Anglican Mortuary Chapel. It was Grade II listed 2008.^[4][5] The corner stone of the Chapel was laid on 9 May 1855 and the consecrated ground opened for burials in 1856. The consecration of the land by the Bishop of Bath and Wells took place on 15 Feb 1856 and this was reported in the Bath & Cheltenham Gazette of 20 February 1856.^[6] In 1907 the original St Mary the Virgin Churchyard was extended by a further six sections.

The Mortuary Chapel was made redundant in 1992 and was sold by the Church authorities at auction in 2007 for £70,000.^[7][8] It has lain derelict since that time.

Smallcombe Vale Cemetery

The nonconformist Smallcombe Vale Chapel, designed by Alfred S Goodridge

The Smallcombe Vale cemetery opened in 1861 or 1862 and was administered by the Bathwick Burial Board. The non-conformist Smallcombe Vale Chapel was designed by Alfred S Goodridge. It was Grade II listed in 2011.^[9][10]

Notable burials and monuments

George Fosbery's grave

Smallcombe Cemetery contains the graves of a number of notable people, including: Frederick Weatherly composer of Danny Boy and Roses of Picardy amongst many other well-known songs; the parents of the poet A. E. Houseman and their seven children and Wallace Gill, architect and the son of the architect John Elkington Gill.^[11] The Housman memorial was restored by the Housman Society in 2003.

Victoria Cross holders: George Fosbery, Lieutenant, 4th Bengal Regiment, Indian Army, for valiant leadership in recapturing the Crag picket, Umbeyla Expedition, North West Frontier, India, 30 October 1863 and Henry Raby, Commander, Royal Navy, for heroism during the assault on the Redan, Sebastopol, Crimean War 18 June 1855. It includes Commonwealth War Graves. Other soldiers include, Malby Edward Crofton, Captain & Adjutant, 2/4th Regiment who fought in the Zulu Wars and P.O. Bailey, 1st class S.I.104737, RNHMS Victory and William Earnest Fey, Pte 10th Bn Devonshire Regiment, from the First World War.

The Hancock memorial which was erected around 1863, Rockshute Tomb of 1873, Pocock headstone from 1924 and an unknown memorial from around 1880 have been designated as listed buildings.^{[12][13][14][15]}

A full list of burials was prepared by Philip Bendall and is housed in the Bath Record Office.^[16] The Sydney Buildings History Group with the Bathwich History Society have extracted names of residents of Sydney Buildings.^[3] It has identified approximately 3,000 plots spread over 16 sections: A to K, with I not being allocated, in the St Mary the Virgin cemetery and 5 sections, V to Z, in Smallcombe Vale. Sections V, W and Z being the nonconformist plots in Smallcombe Vale, divided from the adjacent sections by a line of stones.

Maintenance of grounds

Bath and North East Somerset Council maintains the grounds. The maintenance regime is to cut the churchyard fortnightly (weather permitting). All pruning, hedge cutting, etc., is carried out as winter works after the grass cutting season has ended. The council's arboricultural office keeps the trees under a 3 yearly review and all major tree works are carried out by the council's tree specialists. The Bereavement Services department carries out a 5-year rolling programme of memorial testing to ensure that memorials are preserved as well as possible and are safe. Memorials in danger of collapse are laid down.^[1]

Flora and Fauna

In common with many old cemeteries and graveyards Smallcombe has a large community of flora and fauna within its environs.^[17] The Bath Natural History Society conducted a survey in 2013 and identified a significant number of species.^[18][19]

Future improvements

The Friends of St Mary's Churchyards have been working with the city council to support efforts to maintain the grounds to maintain biodiversity and to improve the general environment. The Smallcombe Garden Cemetery Project was launched by the Friends of St Mary's Churchyards to prepare a bid for Heritage Lottery Funds to assist with the cost of preservation of Smallcombe Cemetery and to establish a longer term public amenity role for the 'closed' cemetery, which is compatible with, and respects, its primary function of being a peaceful sanctuary for the deceased.^[20]

With the support of the National Trust the aim is to incorporate the cemetery in to route the popular Bath Skyline Walk.^[21]

References

Coordinates: 51°22′33″N 2°20′35″W / 51.3758°N 2.3431°W / 51.3758; -2.3431