Congregationalist Cemetery, Ponsharden
Coordinates: 50°09′50″N 5°05′24″W / 50.1639°N 5.0899°W
The Congregationalist Cemetery (also known as the "Independent Burial Ground" or the "Dissenters Burying Ground") at Ponsharden, Cornwall was opened in 1808 to serve the Dissenting Christian congregations of Falmouth and Penryn. It received approximately 587 burials over a period of 120 years, before being abandoned in the 1930s. During the 20th century the site experienced significant neglect and extensive vandalism. In May 2012 a volunteer group began to restore the burial ground which (combined with an adjacent Jewish cemetery) is now a protected Scheduled Monument of national importance.
The Congregationalist cemetery is located at Ponsharden, between the towns of Falmouth and Penryn on the south coast of Cornwall. The cemetery sits at the lower end of a small spur of land which runs down to the Penryn River (a branch of the Fal estuary). The site is bounded on the north by the A39 Falmouth Road, to the east by light industrial units, to the south by open ground and to the west by a cleared industrial site.
The cemetery is roughly L-shaped in plan and occupies an area of approximately 0.22 acres (913m²). The cemetery's northern end comprises a steep scarp overlooking the A39 Falmouth Road. Into this embankement is set the site's original entrance, formed from an arched gateway with cut granite steps. At the top of these steps are the remains of a badly vandalised mortuary building. The site's eastern boundary comprises a damaged but well-constructed rubble wall with chamfered granite copings. The southern and western boundaries are formed from hedge banks. Within the cemetery are the remains of 91 monuments of considerable diversity and several unmarked burial mounds. From the top of the entrance steps, a path (with traces of edging in-situ) extends through the centre of the burial ground, terminating at the southern boundary. A number of mature, self-sown sycamore trees are scattered across the site and a single yew tree stands at the cemetery's southern end, its traditional association with sorrow and death indicating it is a deliberate ornamental feature.
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