Bishop of Newcastle visits Alnwick Cemetery
The Bishop of Newcastle, The Reverend Christine Hardman, was at Alnwick Cemetery on Monday October 10th to consecrate the extension to the current cemetery. She was accompanied by Jane Lowden, the Diocese Registrar, Revd Canon Paul Scott and church wardens from St Michael’ s church, other local clergy and Town Councillors and Officers.
The ceremony started with everyone, led by the church wardens and the Bishop, making a circuit of the area to be consecrated whilst Psalms were read. This was followed by the legal part of the ceremony when the sentence of consecration was read out and the official documents were signed by the Bishop and The Mayor of Alnwick, Alan Symmonds. The ceremony ended with the Bishop making the sign of the cross with her staff within the new area to signify its importance.
John Humphries, the Chair of the Cemetery Committee commented “Alnwick Cemetery were incredibly fortunate that the Bishop of Newcastle personally carried out the consecration of the new area. It’s not often that you get to witness such a unique event.
He added “The consecration of the extension means that the people of Alnwick and Denwick will be have a sacred place to lay their loved ones for the foreseeable future”.
Consecration does not make the soil more holy, but it does set the area aside as a sacred space for ever, and is the greatest protection afforded by English Law. This assures that the burial area will remain as it is and cannot be sold for another purpose. Since the ground is consecrated by the Church of England as a sacred space, people who are buried here can lie in the land forever. As consecrated land it becomes part of the main cemetery and as such needs to be respected and looked after.
Opened in 1856 and the first burial in Alnwick Cemetery was on October 7th 1856 and since then there have been 18,634 burials. That’s an incredible number and is over twice the current number of residents in Alnwick.
The first consecration after opening took place in 1911 taking the cemetery area right to end of the main avenue. The next consecration took place in 1992 when almost an acre was added and is the area currently being used for burials next to the new consecrated area.
The latest consecration on Monday added just over another acre to the cemetery giving enough space for an additional 750 burial plots which should be enough space to accommodate burials for up to 20 years.
Alnwick Cemetery is cared for by Alnwick Town Council who keep the cemetery tidy, undertake annual planting of trees, shrubs and bulbs and, in the past year, made the cemetery a more wildlife-friendly space including the installation of an owl box. An area of the cemetery has recently allocated an area of the cemetery as a Natural Burial Area.
Anyone who would like more information about Alnwick Cemetery should contact the Town Council on 01665 602574 or email alnwicktownclerk@btconnect.com.