(Godalming Old Cemetery)
Nightingale Cemetery was opened in 1857 to relieve the pressure on the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul. Originally the cemetery was to be larger than it is now but the extension of the railway to Portsmouth in 1859 meant that the cemetery ended up smaller than initially envisioned. The reduced size of the cemetery along with the growth in Godalming’s population (5,200 in 1855 to 10,500 in 1892) meant that by 1892 less than a fifth of the original grave spaces remained.
Although between 1957 and 2010 no new grave spaces were available, burials still continued in pre-purchased graves. However, in 2009 there was a programme of works that created 70 new grave spaces for the civil parishes of Godalming and Busbridge.
A new cemetery comprising of 20 acres on a hilltop to the south of the town off Eashing Lane was chosen in 1893 with the land costing £2,000. The first burial took place on 15 June 1900, and it was estimated that Eashing Cemetery would be available for 100 years, but in reality it will last much longer. These are now known as the old and new cemeteries respectively. Both cemeteries are operated jointly by Busbridge Parish Council and Godalming Town Council. The cemetery commands very nice views over the town of Godalming and the surrounding countryside.
Those known to have been buried here:
Catherine Twycross, age: 48, burial date: 27 December 1838
Agnes Twycross, age: 1, burial date: 2 March 1863
Richard Twycross, age: 90 burial date: 22 August 1874
Charles Burchatt, age: 59, burial date: 16 September 1875
Harriet Burchatt, age: 65, burial date: 9 January 1880
Helen Fanny Louise Wyeth, age: 4, burial date: 10 October 1887
Edward Burchatt, age: 42, burial date: 6 November 1889
Daniel Wyeth, age: 84, burial date: 21 February 1890
Charles Burchatt, age: 56, burial date: 14 March 1890
Edward Twycross, age: 13d, burial date: 7 March 1891
John Twycross, age 46, burial date: 24 March 1891
Sarah Twycross, age: 54, burial date: 2 April 1891
Mary Ann Burchatt, age: 69, burial date: 27 October 1892
Susannah Twycross, age: 75, burial date: 1895
Charlotte Wyeth, age: 82 burial date: 27 June 1902
Elizabeth Wyeth, age 66, burial date: 27 October 1910
George Wyeth, age: 72, burial date: 27 November 1914
Mary Ann Burchatt, age: 80, burial date: 30 January 1922
George Edward Wyeth, age: 70, burial date: 3 April 1937
Daniel Charles Wyeth, age: 71, burial date: 17 June 1940
Mary Ann Matilda Wyeth, age: 81, burial date: 17 April 1950
Catherine Elizabeth Wyeth, age: 76, burial date: May 1954