Entrance with chapel and lodge
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The chapel
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General view
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Extent of Twerton cemetery
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In 1881, the Twerton Burial Board considered a plot of land on the Wells Road as a possible cemetery but this was too close to houses to comply with the regulations on burials. Instead a 2½ acre plot was bought from the Trustees of Bellott’s Hospital later that year. In June 1882 the Burial Board considered tenders for building a chapel, lodge and entrance gates. The chapel and a lodge (now a private residence) are either side of the entrance gates.
The southern part of the ground was reserved for Anglicans and this was consecrated by the Bishop of Bath & Wells on Mon 28 Aug 1882.
In September 1882 one of the 14 applicants for the post of gardener was selected. The graves are aligned east-west and the ground is bisected by a double row of trees that run east-west. On the southern side is the railway. It closed in 1937 when Haycombe Cemetery opened.
Layout of Twerton cemetery
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The graves are arranged in a grid with rows being designated A-Z and AA-SS. The plot numbers are in the range 1-28 for the consecrated area and 1-38 for the unconsecrated area.
There were about 8,400 burials and 800 memorials. Many of the graves are common ones. About a quarter of burials were for children aged under 11. Those buried were not exclusively from Twerton and a significant number were from Oldfield Park.
Number of Burials by year
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The chapel was sold by the Council in an auction in 2021.
