Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

John William Egerton becomes the 7th Earl of Bridgewater and moves to Ashridge with his wife Charlotte

Rev John Crofts, rector of St Peter's since 1810, oversees many changes in the parish. Around 1835, he builds a grand new Rectory at the top of Rectory Lane. The old 18th-century Rectory, which was the birthplace of poet William Cowper in 1731, is demolished.

The Industrial Revolution brings about change across Britain. The rural town of Berkhamsted is transformed when the London and Birmingham Railway company opens a new railway line through Berkhamsted in 1837. Improved living standards lead to population growth, and between 1800 and 1850, the population of England doubles. More people naturally leads to more deaths, and Britain's churchyards begin to fill up. In Berkhamsted, the first discussions are held in 1837 about finding a new burial ground.

Victoria becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and is crowned at Westminster Abbey on 28 June 1838

With a growing population, churchyards across Britain face capacity problems as parishes try to cope with the increased number of burials. The churchyard of St Peter's Great Berkhamsted is running out of space and discussions continue in the vestry meetings for an additional burial ground.

In 1841, an orchard and meadow behind Egerton House on the High Street were put up for auction. The St Peter's vestry sanctioned the purchase of a new Parish Burial Ground.

Now a wealthy widow, Charlotte Catherine Anne, Countess Of Bridgewater purchases land from the Egerton House property sale. Lady Bridgewater is renowned for her charitable acts, and she donates the land to the Parish of Great Berkhamsted for the purpose of establishing a new detached cemetery. Additional donations come from the London and Birmingham Railway Company, the Grand Junction Canal Company and parishioners. The cemetery is consecrated on 11th October 1842 by the Bishop of Lincoln.

Rectory Lane Cemetery is landscaped for the first burials, and the Churchwardens' Accounts for Easter 1843 show that Mapplebecks & Laws charged £9 16s 3d for mowing equipment.

A book of the same year, On the Laying Out, Planting, and Managing of Cemeteries and on the Improvement of Churchyards by J.C Loudon, states that a total of £109 10s 9d was spent on the burial ground.

The Sexton — the church officer responsible for buildings and graveyards — now has a new cemetery in the parish to look after. Parish records show that the Great Berkhamsted Sexton John Parkins is provided with a Sexton's Coat & Sundries at a cost of £4 12s 0d.

Local tradesmen and labourers are employed by the Church for the maintenance of the Cemetery. In the 1846 Great Berkhamsted Parish accounts, Pocock is paid 12s 7d for sharpening tools, and two men are paid a total of 9 shillings for carting earth.

Since Norman times, church parishes in most of Hertfordshire had been part of the Diocese of Lincoln, a vast ecclesiastical territory that stretched from the Humber to the edge of London. 

In 1846, a reorganisation in the Church of England transfers Hertfordshire parishes, including Great Berkhamsted, from the Diocese of Lincoln to the Diocese of Rochester.

Rev. John Crofts, Rector of St Peter's Church since 1810, dies in office. Crofts supported the establishment of Rectory Lane Cemetery and built the new Victorian Rectory at the top of the lane. The Churchwardens receive half monumental fees of Burial Ground £11.0.6d from late Rev. J. Crofts.

William Cooper sets up his agricultural chemicals factory, Cooper & Nephews, which becomes a major business in Berkhamsted for over 120 years

John Parkins resigns as the Parish Sexton. He is replaced by Thomas Heath.

Matthews paid £13.6.4 for new posts and altering the Cemetery entrance gates. Nash paid £32.16.3 for rebuilding Cemetery wall.

Rectory Lane Cemetery is now the town's main burial ground. The churchyard next to St Peter's which has served as the local burial ground since medieval times is closed by Order of Council on 19th October 1855.

Augustus Smith of Ashlyns Hall opposes Lord Brownlow's attempt to fence off common land

The Victorian enthusiasm for church restoration is at its height, and overseen by Rector James Hutchinson,  the renowned Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield carries out a major renovation of the decaying St Peter's Church. Butterfield's changes include refacing the church with flint, and replacing interior fixtures and stained glass. Many original medieval features are lost in the renovations. At the Cemetery, a public subscription is opened to raise funds towards replacing the wooden gates and gateposts at the Cemetery entrance on Rectory Lane.

A fundraising appeal is launched for the church to erect new cemetery gates. In 1873 a parish meeting is held to take into consideration 'the deficiency in the Fund agreed to be raised for providing new gates to the Cemetery'. 

Thomas Heath resigns from the post of Sexton of the Great Berkhamsted Parish after serving 24 years. He is succeeded by George Pearce. Heath dies on 5th Sept 1877 and the funeral is held of 'our late respected sexton'. Parish accounts reflect a £5 donation to improving the walks etc. in the Burial Ground.

The Parish of Great Berkhamsted, part of the Diocese of Rochester since 1837, becomes part of the Church of England's new Diocese of St Albans

A 1st edition OS Map surveyed 1873-1878 shows the original cemetery layout. Note the terrace, paths (including bulb on the axial path and oblique angle of northern path), trees, and Cowper's Well on the boundary.

The Public Health (Interments) Act 1879 is passed by Parliament, setting out the regulations for the construction and operation of mortuaries and cemeteries and giving local authorities responsibility for running burial grounds.

The Burial Act of 1880 is passed, enabling ministers of non-conformist Christian denominations such as Methodists or Baptists to conduct funerals in Church of England churchyards, and not restricted to using Anglican burial rites. The first burial in Rectory Lane Cemetery under the Burial Act takes place, he burial of a child, with Rev. James Menzies of Berkhamsted Congregational Church (which once stood on the corner of Castle St and Chapel St) officiating.

Another early non-conformist funeral is held at Rectory Lane Cemetery, conducted by a Primitive Methodist minister — made possible since the Burials Bill became law.

At a Vestry meeting in 1883, Mr Dorrien-Smith is recorded as saying that 'people took great interest in the Cemetery and visited it frequently'

Richard Ghost, gravedigger in Rectory Lane Cemetery, dies age 62 in Castle Street

By the end of the 19th century, the Cemetery is running out of burial space. The Cemetery has its first extension to the south, creating creating another acre for burials. About £1,000 is required for the wall and laying out the ground.

The 1894 extension to Rectory Lane Cemetery is consecrated by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on Sunday 1st November 1896. The cost of the addition to the cemetery has been met by voluntary contributions.

The right of way to the new cemetery is in question due to an 'iron chain being placed round the gate and post' creating 'an obstruction across Three Closes'

The usual deficit on the cemetery account 'and now the cemetery was open and used by all' Mr Dorrien-Smith 'thought all should contribute'. Cemetery is paying 15s for Water to the Great Berkhamsted Water Works Company.

George Pearce is paid £9.00 for work done in Cemetery from Dec 25th to June 29th 1899.

The Vestry resolves that 'In future the management of the Cemetery be left in the hands of the Churchwardens'.

 Upon the death of Queen Victoria, Edward becomes King 

According to the Rector, a sum of some £15 is in hand for expenditure in the Cemetery.

The Cemetery is running out of space again. In 1903 the 3rd Earl Brownlow, Adelbert Brownlow-Cust (a successor to the dowager Countess Charlotte Catherine Anne) donates a tract of land to the south. This enables the Cemetery to be extended, creating more room for burials.

As part of the Cowper anniversary celebrations, members of the Cowper Society visit the Cemetery 'where his relatives are buried'

George Pearce, the Parish Sexton dies and Levi Newell becomes first full-time Cemetery Caretaker. A new wall erected in the Cemetery is defrayed out of balance in hand of the New Cemetery Fund Account.

George, son of King Edward VII, ascends to the throne 

The Berkhamsted Churchwardens pay in £10 to 'restoring arch'. It is not clear if this this refers to the Memorial Arch.

The First World War breaks out and over 200 men and boys from Berkhamsted are killed in action

Rector expends £5.8.5 for 'preparing New Ground' (referring to the planned extension). Parishioners are asked to tend the graves of friends and remove flowers as soon as they are dead.

Proceedings against John Morsely, Sexton. Levi Newell joins the army. F. Martin begins to be paid annual sum for Cemetery caretaking work.

WWI is in progress, but one local newspaper finds it noteworthy to record the fact ‘The interments in three weeks in Berkhamsted Cemetery included five parishioners whose ages were 92, 85, 80, 78, and 77 — perhaps as a counterbalance to all the stories of young men losing their lives in the war.

Mr F. Martin ceases to care for the Cemetery. He received £42.4.4 for works Easter 1918-19. Ernest Porrett appointed caretaker. Plans are prepared to show the work required to prepare the ground of the extension.

An appeal is made for £500 for 'laying out the additional ground - now a matter of extreme urgency'. Larger rate-payers in the parish are castigated for not contributing to the Cemetery extension project!

Delayed by the War, the Cemetery extension planned in 1903 is finally consecrated in 1921 (excluding the upper terrace) by the Bishop of St Albans.

In 1924, Earl Brownlow donates nearly 2 acres of additional land at the top of the hill. A further extension of the Cemetery is planned here, with an access path running across the southern edge and new entrance gates on Three Close Lane and Chesham Road. The additional field is conveyed to Ecclesiastical Commissioners by Earl Brownlow's representatives  However, this extension scheme is never executed.

1931 marks the bicentenary of the birth of poet William Cowper, who was born at the Rectory in 1731.

A faculty is approved for the Seat of Remembrance, commissioned by Lucy Anne Foot in memory of her late husband,  Brigadier General Richard Mildmay Foot.

Sir Richard Cooper's Faculty in connection with the family vault in Berkhamsted Churchyard is approved.

After reigning for only a few months, Edward is forced to abdicate after his romance with  Wallis Simpson

After the abdication crisis, the King's brother, Albert, becomes King George VI

Egerton House, the house associated with Peter Pan, is demolished and a new Art Deco cinema, the Rex, is erected

The Second World War breaks out

Upon the death of George VI, the young Princess Elizabeth becomes queen of the United Kingdom

The Friends of St Peter's is established as a charitable trust to care for St Peter's Church and its cemetery

The Friends of St Peter's wins £907,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore Rectory Lane Cemetery for the community