Bath Quaker Meeting

Quaker Burial Ground in Widcombe

Address: Clarendon Road (next to Bewdley House), off Widcombe Hill, Bath, BA2 4NJ.

To gain entry: there is a digital lock on the door, the code for which can be obtained by phoning the Meeting House on 01225 469555. To use the lock, first press C then enter the code and turn the knob a quarter turn anti-clockwise. At the same time, pull the door forwards and it will open.

Access: there is a double door into the Burial Ground. Opening the door with the digital lock gives relatively narrow access so it may be helpful to have both doors open in order to widen the entrance. For wheelchair users, assistance would be needed to unbolt the second door. There is level access from the pavement, and inside the burial ground there is a smooth, gently sloping paved path. There are no toilet facilities as yet.

According to 'Quaker Meeting Houses of Britain' by Butler (available in Bath Friends' Meeting House library), the first burial ground used by Bath Friends was the one at the meeting house at Bathford, four miles east of the city, until in 1829 they were given land at Widcombe Hill a mile out of town.

One of the Bath Friends of the early 19th century was John Thomas, who lived at Prior Park. When he died, his brothers sold a piece of land near Widcombe Crescent to 12 Members of North Somerset Monthly Meeting in trust as a burial ground. The sum paid was five shillings each to his five brothers (source: Copy of Indenture, 11.02.1829). This burial ground took the place of the one at Bathford, which was kept until 1934, and then sold. The land now lies under the Batheaston by-pass.

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The ground was overgrown until the mid 1970s when it was cleared and replanted. Some of the interesting planting was by Joan Berry, a horticulturist who was a member of the Meeting. The garden has been lovingly tended for many years by its neighbours in Chapel Cottage. They particularly encouraged flowering trees, and we are rewarded by profuse flowering when there has been a long hot summer the previous year.

By the gate as you enter is a Staphylea the bladdernut tree. Unfortunately this is infected with honey fungus and is struggling to survive. Along the lower wall are Portuguese laurels and a Photinia, lime-resistant, with red leaves in spring. An unusual evergreen Eupatorium ligustrinum, the Incense Bush, is a fragrant shrub which is now flourishing here. It flowers around September, in company with the cyclamen.

In the middle of the garden are a flowering cherry and a magnolia (perhaps M. stellata or maybe M. x Loebneri Leonard Messel. A Judas Tree (Cercis Siliquastrum) succumbed to honey fungus and was removed. This opened up the area around the memorial tablets, behind which an Amelanchier is to be found. This is a delightful shrub, showy both in spring with white flowers and in autumn with its coloured leaves.

In the far right-hand corner are an evergreen holm oak (Quercus); a Philadelphus and some Solomon's seal. In the far left-hand corner is a very rare Paulownia (the Empress Tree from Turkey). Though long established it was only in 1996 that it flowered. In the raised bed along the upper wall, working back from the far left-hand corner, are many plantings including an edible fig, a golden yellow tree peony, a eucalyptus of Australian proportions, a hydrangea veluta and a holly.

With bequests, numerous roses have been planted over the years. They include Canary Bird, Fruhlingsgold, Blanc Double de Coubert, Pauls Scarlet, Quaker Star, Peace and Alec's Red. One Friend is remembered by the scattering of forget-me-nots, and another by a fragrant Philadelphus.

The garden is home to a venerable tortoise called Jacob.

In 2006, the high stone wall was repaired and in 2007, the area inside the gate to the left was landscaped and paved. Planting has already started with lavenders and roses, and further planting is planned using fragrant flowers. The Meeting has been greatly helped in the work of developing the Burial Ground by Rose Rogers.