 Godalming
Town Council, jointly with Busbridge Parish Council, operates two
cemeteries. The first, Nightingale Cemetery, was opened in 1857.
By the early 1890’s Godalming’s population had doubled
to 10,000 and it became clear that an additional cemetery was required.
Accordingly a new cemetery was constructed on hilltop farmland to
the south of Godalming with ‘a capacity for a hundred years
of burials’. In 1900 the first burial took place in the sixteen
acres of what became known as Eashing cemetery. Over a hundred years
later it is still sometimes referred to as the ‘new’
cemetery and contrary to the original estimate it will be available
for burials for many decades to come. Whilst the old cemetery at
Nightingale Road is closed for the purpose of burials it still provides
a place of quiet reflection and the listed, deconsecrated chapel
serves as a home for a local charity providing skill training for
young people.
Both cemeteries contain buildings of genuine architectural interest
and impressive views over the Surrey Hills. They also became the
final resting  place
for a number of local notables. Amongst these are the Surrey and
England Cricketer Julius Caesar, the composers the Reverend Clement
Cottrill Scholefield and Peter Warlock, and the Arts and Crafts
architect Thackery Turner, who designed the Philips memorial (see
page 25) and Westbrook. In 2002 as memorial to Jack Philips, the
heroic wireless operator on the Titanic, the Philips family grave
in Nightingale Cemetery was refurbished.
The cemeteries are now entering a new phase of development reflecting
amongst other things both an increasing interest in heritage issues
and a trend for more environmentally friendly burials. Very recently
a programme of restoration has been put in place to repair the effects
of 150 years of wear and tear on memorials for which owners are
no longer traceable and by late 2008 a natural burial area will
be operating in a specially designed corner of Eashing Cemetery.
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