By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group
This month’s article looks at the reason why there is a burial ground at Walstead and its design. Until the early part of the 19th century burial facilities were mainly provided by the Church of England in parish churchyards and, for some high status burials, inside churches in vaults sunk into the floor. All Saints Church, like many other parish churches across the country, had existed for close on a thousand years and its churchyard had become full. Existing burials were frequently disturbed by new graves with the consequent fear of risk to public health. Similarly new interments within the church also gave rise to health concerns. There were also issues concerning the burial of non-conformists and members of other religions, as parish churchyards were exclusively Anglican. The churchyard at Lindfield was so full, it is said, new burials were being interred on top of existing graves, which accounts for the raised ground in the northern part of the churchyard.
The government, recognising the widespread nature of these problems, passed the Burial Acts 1853. This Act allowed for the Parish Vestry, forerunner of a Parish Council, to form a publicly financed local burial board to establish a burial ground. Furthermore by ‘her Majesty in Council’ an order could be made that required the discontinuance of burials at specific locations. Such an Order in Council passed on 30th January 1854 applied to Lindfield, requiring ‘burials to cease at once under the church and from and after the first of May 1854 in the churchyard burial ground’. Lindfield churchwardens and parish overseers were faced with establishing a burial board together with the urgent and difficult task of finding a new burial ground.
Their aim was to acquire land near the parish church but owners were not willing to sell. Two grants extending the closure date for the Lindfield churchyard were given, to allow time to find a site, with the final deadline being 1st September 1854. A two-acre plot on Walstead Common on the northern side of East Mascalls Lane was eventually identified as a suitable site. Walstead Common at that time covered over 35 acres and was part of the Manor of Walstead held by the Earl of Chichester, who made the land available. A Vestry Meeting held on 11th May 1854 agreed that the Lindfield Burial Board could borrow the money ‘required for providing and laying out the new burial ground’ and for it to be charged to the parish poor rate. It was further agreed that the Board should ‘provide fit and proper places in which bodies may be received and taken care of previously to internment and to make arrangements for the reception and care of the bodies to be deposited therein’. At a further Parish Vestry meeting on 29th June 1854, the Burial Board was authorised ‘to expend the sum of Twelve Hundred pounds for the purpose of providing and laying out the New Burial ground.’ The following are examples of the Burial Fees set by the Parish Vestry to apply from 19th October 1854:
Vaults 4ft
Minister £1 15s 0d
Clerk £0 7s 6d
Sexton £0 3s 6d
Registering £0 0s 6d
Total: £2 6s 0d
Children under 12 Years of Age buried in a Common Grave
Minister £0 1s 8d
Clerk £0 0s 9d
Sexton £0 0s 9d
Registering £0 0s 6d
Total: £0 3s 8d
Persons Buried at the Expense of the Parish
Minister £0 1s 0d
Clerk £0 1s 0d
Sexton £0 1s 0d
Total: £0 3s 0d
There was no tradition of cemetery design to draw upon and small burial grounds, like Walstead, were often utilitarian but with design references drawn from small country estates that is to say, an entry lodge, some landscaping, boundary walls and the mortuary chapels taking the place of the country house as the focal point. These four elements can be seen to this day in the Walstead Burial Ground. Two mortuary chapels, stood a short distance behind the Entry Lodge, formed the focal point of the burial ground. The identical adjoining chapels each having their own porch and doorway, were dedicated for the separate use of the Church of England and Nonconformists. The Church of England chapel was on the eastern side. They were described, in language of the day, as being for ‘Episcopal’ and ‘Dissenters’ respectively.
The simply designed brick chapels with tiled roofs in the traditional ecclesiastical style had wood lined tunnel vaulted ceilings and tall stone framed, three light arched windows. By the 1900s the Chapels and Lodge were heavily covered in ivy. Today the Chapels have been sympathetically restored to retain their original character and are used as offices. The Entry Lodge built of brick with a tiled roof had living accommodation on either side of the central arch and gabled entranceway that ran through the middle of the building. This archway, with sufficient width to permit the passage of a horse drawn hearse, aligned with the Mortuary Chapels behind, which had pathways running to their respective porches. The arch, although now bricked in, remains visible in outline at the rear of the lodge.
The original boundary wall enclosing the ground was built to a strict specification requiring a uniform height of five feet and one brick thick. This wall was replaced, when the burial ground was enlarged and the boundaries realigned, with the more substantial walls that largely exist today. The original two acre site was laid out with two wide curving pathways running northwards across the burial ground from each mortuary chapel. Trees were planted around the perimeter and the ground generously planted with evergreen bushes such as yews and rhododendrons. Remnants of this planting can still be seen.
In the original layout the ground to the east was consecrated land for Church of England burials. A central area was given over to common graves, burials without headstones and those buried at the expense of the Parish. The ground on the western side was non-consecrated ground for Nonconformist and other burials. In 1905 Lindfield Parish Council, the owners at the time, acquired an additional two and a quarter acres of land to enlarge the burial ground to its present size. The two footpaths extended to the new northern boundary have since been removed. Although perhaps not as pristine as in years past it remains a tranquil resting place, now under the care of Lindfield Rural Parish Council.
Contact Lindfield History Project Group on 01444 482136 or visit https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/