New woodland cemetery opens in Horncastle

From left, cemetery estates assistant Arron Clifton, town clerk Amanda Bushell, estates assistant Lindsay Farrell, estates supervisor Stuart Goodacre, and deputy clerk Amanda Eastwood.

The new cemetery was officially opened by newly-elected Mayor Matt Wilkinson on Saturday (May 20), with representatives from Horncastle Town Council’s estates team in attendance to answer enquiries from the public.

The Boston Road cemetery burial registers and information available for anyone who would like to reserve a grave space at either cemetery was also available for guests to browse.

Situated near to community woodland off the B1183 to Boston via Scrivelsby and Revesby, the Woodland Cemetery will offer residents more choice of where they or their loved ones can be laid to rest, and should have enough grave spaces to serve the community for at least 200 years.

Mayor of Horncastle, Matthew Wilkinson opening the cemetery with Horncastle Town Council.

The new cemetery has sections for coffin burials with a headstone, green burials with a tree planted on the plot following the burial, and a choice of cremated remains areas, including a formal area with a tablet memorial, or interred in a wildflower garden with a plaque displayed on a central memorial pillar.

The new cemetery is also designed to promote wildlife, and boasts a pond, wildflower areas, and borders planted with insect friendly plants with a grant from Lincolnshire County Council’s Community Wildlife grant, and the county council has also donated 50 trees from their treescape fund.

Amanda Bushell, town clerk, said the opening on Saturday was really successful:

"We had a really good attendance during the day and people dropping in, and lots of people showing an interest in green burials.

"It was really well received by the public as well, and people said it was a great thing for the community to have.”

The woodland cemetery has been a labour of love for the town council and has been in the offing for several years, when it was first identified that the existing town cemetery was near capacity and the site was purchased back in 2018, and approval was granted at the end of July 2022 for the cemetery to go ahead.

More information on Horncastle’s new woodland cemetery is available at https://horncastletowncouncil.co.uk/building-the-woodland-cemetery/