Mid 19th cemetery, Braintree Cemetery (EHER 19940)

Braintree Cemetery opened in the mid 19th century. There is a chapel and a lodge.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Braintree Cemetery opened in the mid 19th Century - the competition for builders was advertised in 1855. <1> 2002. Registration consideration. The cemetery was considered for inclusion in the Register of Parks and Gardens, but was not added to the Register. Mid 19th century public cemetery set up by Braintree Burial Board and opened in 1856. Lodge and double chapel designed by J. Johnson of Bury St Edmunds, and landscaped by William Davidson. The cemetery is situated to the south of Braintree on the northern slope of the valley of the River Brain, which flows eastwards past the town. London Road is directly to its east. Its boundary to the south and south-west is formed by the river or its narrow floodplain, and to the north and north-west is now occupied by housing. The cemetery is entered from the east from London Road. The initial layout was centred on the two chapels. From the main entrance on the road a relatively broad avenue approaches the chapels up a slight slope, divided around them and continues in the same line down a rather steeper slope behind. Thus the chapels are very prominent, and this topography may explain why their position was at first a matter of contention, and why the Board quickly decided to unite the Anglican and Non-Conformist chapels in a single building, neither to be higher than the other, with a single bell tower. Perhaps for similar reasons the two halves of the original cemetery are exactly the same size and layout, the main difference between them being that the Non-Conformist half is down-slope, and the Anglican up-slope. A secondary road runs around the chapels in a large oval, symmetrically about the central avenue, with which it is joined by cross-paths. Perimeter paths run symmetrically to either side at the front of the cemetery. <2> <3>