A letter came into the Chandler’s Ford Today office recently asking abut the graveyard in Pine Road, near the junction with Hursley Road. I’d never noticed this before, and neither had the editor. “You like local history”, said the editor, “and you’ve got a long weekend coming up. Go and find out about it”. OK, that may not actually be how she said it, but it is how I heard it.
I put my research hat on and delved into the internet.
First stop was the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 map. Yes, there it is; marked as “Cemy” – though it is difficult to pinpoint the location accurately
Next port of call was Google Maps. Using their satellite view and zooming in as close as it would allow, I could easily see the gravestones on a small triangle of land lying between Simpkins Court on Hursley Road and the end of Laidlow Gardens.
The grounds appear to be well maintained. The grass is tidy; paths are clearly defined; trees and bushes are not growing out of control; and the graves are not hidden under layers of undergrowth. So not some long-forgotten relic of a bygone era.
I then looked at the Eastleigh Borough Council website where I learned that this was the Pine Road cemetery, opened in 1906 by the then Chandlers Ford Parish Council before being passed to Eastleigh Bough Council in the “early 1930s” (though I thought Eastleigh Borough Council wasn’t established until 1936). It has separate areas for Anglican, Roman Catholic and Non-Conformist burials. All Christians may be going to the same place, but it would appear that the different denominations will be entering through different doors.
The cemetery is now full, unless you are to be the second burial in a pre-purchased grave. Writing that sentence reminds of a radio report about burials that revealed that in a double grave the bodies are generally laid one above the other, rather than side-by-side as is commonly thought. The reporter had a mouth-before-brain moment when he responded with “so which body goes in first?”
Wow! I’d found out a lot already, and not even had to leave the comfort of my armchair. Time now for a site visit.
Wait for the next instalment, when I will tell you more.
Chippy,
I have been there – my paternal grandparents are buried there, although I last visited some time ago. When I was there, parts of the cemetery were in poor shape; the area around my grandparents’ grave was quite overgrown and many of the graves were collapsing there where urns and vases strewn about on different graves to where they were originally put. Perhaps it has been tidied up; I believe it was the original Chandler’s Ford cemetery before Ramally.
It seems so small an area, and filled to capacity so soon…. it made me wonder if, with it perhaps being the “original cemetery for Chandler’s Ford” if there more land included originally where housing developments now stand. Mind you, if it opened in 1906… where were Chandler’s Ford residents laid to rest before this?
Maybe the churchyard was the only burial place before 1906. When did Chandlers Ford become its own parish? Maybe in 1906 they didn’t expect Chandlers Ford to grow so big!
Chippy,
The other day we met up with another writer, Gopi, and his friends. His friends were amazed at the ‘success’ of this website. My answer to them was that at the beginning, I had to put in quite a bit of work in writing about local stories, but pretty soon, so many local writers, including you, join in, and you all have been writing magnificent articles about various topics, to inform and entertain the readers.
Well done!! Keep it up.
When I was a leader in the 4th Chandlers Ford Scout Group, we used to take the scouts around Chandler’s Ford to make them more aware of their community. The Pine Road cemetery was always visited, though in those days the grass was overgrown and many of the headstones were unsafe. If you look at many of the names on the headstones they are Polish. Hiltingbury Rec used to have a wartime Polish refugee camp on it and we presume that many of their dead were buried in Pine Road.
Both my grandparents are buried there, it’s good time of year to visit with bluebells and primroses bloom.
My Grandmother, Kate Barnes, is also buried there … she died at age 70 and was buried on 22nd. August 1944 in Grave No. B4 … At that time, the cemetery was known as “Cuckoo Bushes Cemetery” and her grave was one of several that I believe were ‘damaged’ by a very bad storm, I think about 1976, but not sure of the date.
Looking forward to the next episode … Thanks !
The EBC website says that many trees were damaged in the storm of 1987. Though had that not happened, I guess there may have had to be some manual lopping and clearing by now.
My family have graves at Chandler’s ford. They were in un marked graves due due to poverty ,but my father made crosses and we placed them at the cemetery. One Arthur fought in the First World War was injured twice sent to Victoria hospital and then back to France .