Friends of Histon Road Cemetery (FHRC)

The Friends of Histon Road Cemetery was set up by a group of local residents who were increasingly concerned by the deteriorating environment and misuse of the site. The group was established in 2006 and has since worked closely with the local community and Cambridge City Council, who own the Cemetery. A development plan was implemented to improve the site whilst preserving its historical integrity. Regular gardening volunteers have made enormous improvements.

What do the Friends do that the Council doesn’t?

FHRC work closely with Cambridge City Council, who own the Cemetery. The Council empty the bins and cut the grass but for example, we manage the Cemetery for wildlife benefit, which includes roping off some areas to let the grass grow long and encourage biodiversity. We rotate the areas to be cut and clear away the trimmings to reduce the soil fertility and this management has proved very successful in increasing the number and diversity of wildflowers, butterflies and other pollinators, with associated benefits for other wildlife. We’ve put in native hedgerow plants and “dead hedges” along the southern boundary, where the line of big trees marks what was formerly the northern edge of the city. We have worked with Community Payback teams and local schoolchildren to make and install birdboxes.

We try to achieve a balance between wildlife-friendly and tidy and our gardening volunteers plant and look after all sorts of shrubs and flowers in the borders and graves. The Cemetery looks beautiful at all times of year. We have a walk-round with members every month to observe the seasonal changes and it’s very enjoyable to have a good look at everything in this way, taking our time instead of just walking briskly through!

We work with the Council on management of the trees and hedges, agreeing where new trees are to be planted and for example, getting the canopies raised to facilitate views across the Cemetery and deter anti-social behaviour. We also cut the hedges lower than the Council is able to, which allows views into the Cemetery for passersby and again deters anti-social behaviour.

Reducing anti-social behaviour is in fact one of our major successes and indeed the main prompt to the group being founded in the first place. We alert the Council and the police where necessary to intimidating behaviour, drug-dealing, discarded needles, rough camping, prostitution etc and since the group began, the Cemetery has become the safe and welcoming place for the community to enjoy and treasure that it ought to be. During the Covid lockdowns in particular, this lovely space really showed its worth.

Looking after the memorials is key, of course. We monitor their condition and employ specialist stonemasons to keep them safe and standing. It’s likely the Council would have to lay flat, for safety’s sake, any that start to move as the ground beneath them shifts, but this would radically alter the appearance of our beautiful Cemetery and we are keen to keep the memorials upright where at all possible. Although the Cemetery is closed to new burials (with some exeptions for interment of ashes in existing graves), we advise families on installing replacement headstones or even new ones where a grave didn’t previously have one. We have a number of war graves, looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and honour these with a ceremony on Remembrance Day every year.

We hold a database of all burials – there are, incredibly, 8245 of them – and it’s very satisfying to be able to help locate plots for the many enquiries we receive from relatives and others.

Friends’ membership is very important in making sure Histon Road Cemetery is looked after to the standard we all want it to be and doesn’t slide back into the ruinous and intimidating place it had become before the Friends group was founded. It gives the committee access to the views of local people and others who care about the Cemetery. It also proves to the City Council that people really value this historic community resource.

In the interest of inclusivity the subscription remains at its original level of £5 per household. Donations, small, medium or large, are much appreciated of course and enable us to sustain the Friends’ contribution to the care of the Cemetery. Donations in kind, of time or skills, are also crucial and there’s all sorts you could do – do let us know if you’re interested in helping in any way.

 

Liz Moon ©

What we aim to do

• To protect and enhance Histon Road Cemetery for the public benefit as a place of remembrance, spirituality, history and nature.
• To speak and act with Cambridge City Council and other organisations on behalf of those who care for Histon Road Cemetery as such a place, particularly those who cherish the memory of one buried there.
• To ensure continued public access to and to increase awareness, appreciation and enjoyment of Histon Road Cemetery within the local community and the wider city.

As a member of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends we are in contact with groups throughout the country.

 

Find us on Facebook at friendsofHistonRoadCemetery

Email us at FriendsofHistonRoadCemetery@yahoo.co.uk

To report criminal activity or anti-social behaviour

Call the police on 999 or 111
or
contact Cambridge City Council on 01223 457950 or at asbsection@cambridge.gov.uk

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