Visiting the cemetery
There are two entrances to the Cemetery, the main one is on Willingdon Road BN21 1TN with a further entrance in Eldon Road (opposite Cavendish School) BN21 1UE. There are small car-parks at each entrance but they are frequently full.
The cemetery opening times are:
Summer (BST) 8am to 8pm
Winter (GMT) 8am to 5.30pm
The cemetery gates are opened and closed by a contractor and sometimes these times can vary particularly in the Winter months when it is dark.
A brief history of the cemetery
Click to enlarge map
The proximity of churchyards to busy town centres and their water-wells was not hygienic. In 1796, Seaford MP Richard Paul Jodrill raised the subject in the House of Commons.
For centuries the Eastbourne dead had been buried around St Mary’s Church. It was clear however that the grave-yard was becoming full. In 1853 the churchyard was extended but it was obvious that the Vestry needed to seek an alternative site.
The Vestry was an early form of local government. Although originally the vestry dealt mainly with ecclesiastical law by the Victorian period, it was dealing with secular matters. The Vestry Act of 1850 forbids its meetings to be held in churches therefore a Vestry Room was built in Grove Road in 1851.
The Burial Act of 1854 enabled councils to establish a ‘Burial Board’ and allowed the Borough Rate (local tax) to be used to establish cemeteries. These tended to be extra-mural cemeteries, in other words they were built outside the boundaries of the town so were less likely to interfere with water supplies.
Eastbourne took no time in acting. In July 1854, the Vestry formed a ‘Burial Board’ of nine ratepayers. The following year they decided to buy a field north of Eastbourne called ‘Ocklyng Piece’ for £400.
The cemetery was landscaped to provide a pleasant rural area for visiting relatives and was finally consecrated and opened in May 1857. In 1873 the cemetery extended southwards towards a house called ‘The Gore’. Langney Cemetery was opened in 1882 but it was not popular as it was thought to be too far away from Eastbourne for visitors. Ocklynge Cemetery was therefore extended towards Eldon Road in 1892. The land was purchased from the Duke of Devonshire at a cost of £9,000.
Although today it appears that St Michael and All Angels Church is part of the cemetery, it was not built until 1910 therefore a Cemetery Chapel was built at the main entrance in Willingdon Road.
The Chapel, Cemetery Lodge and Gates
Shortly after the cemetery opened, £2,000 was allocated to build a chapel and cemetery lodge. The designer was Benjamin Ferrey (1810-1880), an architect who had studied with Augustus Pugin, the designer of much of the Houses of Parliament. A few years later he designed Christ Church in Seaside. The Cemetery gates were originally cast at the famous Colebrookdale Iron Foundry in Ironbridge, Shropshire.
The Chapel is divided in two with the larger chapel (left as seen from the cemetery gates) for the Church of England. The chapels closed for use in about 1979.
Flora and Fauna
Volunteers are aware of the flora and fauna at Ocklynge Cemetery and consider the biodiversity of the cemetery when working. for instance bushes and other habitats are not cut back during the nesting season.
In 2017 and 2018 the cemetery was visited by members of the Sussex Botanical Recording Society who discovered and listed over 200 species of flora at the Cemetery. The Friends of Ocklynge Cemetery have plans to work with the society to ensure that all aspects of the flora are considered when planning work.