NEWBURY WEEKLY NEWS - 125 YEARS AGO

July 4 1872

WE UNDERSTAND that for the future the Cemetery grounds, on the Newtown-road, will be open to visitors on Sundays. According to our correspondent “W.M.” this arrangement came into force last Sunday, and the wishes of a large number of persons, of whom several of our correspondents may be deemed the representatives, will be acceded to, and the facilities will be given for those to whom the Cemetery possesses a melancholy interest of visiting the last resting place of departed friends. The only matter of surprise is that any other state of things should have been allowed to continue. In other towns Cemeteries are as free of access as churchyards or people’s parks; while the taste with which they are usually laid out, and the neat order in which they are kept, tend to attract rather than repel strangers, in spite of their mournful associations. Our own Cemetery, although without marks of care and attention, will not at present compare altogether favourably with similar spots elsewhere. The funds of the Company have never been in a very flourishing condition, and from one point of view nobody hopes they will ever be; but it were much to be desired that the expense of keeping the grass and walks always neat and trim, of cultivating flowers and shrubs, and of placing seats for visitors, could in some way be met.  A small yearly subscription from the owners of family or private graves, or family tickets of admission at a nominal cost, would perhaps meet the extra expenses incurred for these purposes. A concession to the wishes of the public, as expressed in our columns, has at any rate been already made.

Sourced from Newbury Weekly News July 3^rd, 1997 by Ros Clow

Transcribed by Doug Larsen

Sources:Newbury Weekly News 3 July 1997 - sourced by Ros Clow