St Peter's Parish News
Thursday 1 January 1970
The Transformation of Rectory Lane Cemetery
This short video (below) tells us about the transformation of Rectory Lane Cemetery through fundraising and volunteer effort by the Friends of St Peter’s. The cemetery on Rectory Lane (just behind the Rex Cinema) was established by St Peter’s Church in 1842, when Rev John Crofts was Rector of St Peter’s and Queen Victoria had only been on the throne 5 years. St Peter’s medieval churchyard had run out of space, and with a donation of land by the Countess of Bridgewater from Ashridge, the church laid out a new, detached burial ground.
After over a century of use, the cemetery was closed to new burials when Kingshill Cemetery opened in 1946. Over the next 60-70 years, the overgrown cemetery fell into ruin until the Friends were formed in 2014. After securing nearly £1 million in Lottery funding and with other donations, Rectory Lane Cemetery has been restored as a welcoming green space, where our parish history is preserved and celebrated – “From Dead Space to Living Place”.
This video is well worth watching – it’s like an inspirational episode of Grand Designs, reminding us of what can be achieved by our community:
www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk 
