Reading Old Cemetery
Section of Reading Old Cemetery
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| Established | 1842 |
| Location | Reading, Berkshire, UK |
| Coordinates | 51°27′12″N 0°56′45″W / 51.4532°N 0.9459°WCoordinates: 51°27′12″N 0°56′45″W / 51.4532°N 0.9459°W |
| Size | 11.5 acres (47,000 m2) |
| No. of graves | 18,327 |
Reading Old Cemetery (originally Reading Cemetery) is in the east of Reading, Berkshire, England. It is located immediately to the east of Cemetery Junction, a major road junction in Reading. The cemetery is Grade II listed.
Reading Cemetery was set up by a private act of Parliament in 1842, establishing the Reading Cemetery Company. The first interment took place in 1843. It was one of many cemeteries built in the Victorian era in response to the rapid population increase in the 19th century.
Reading Cemetery was built on farm land outside the existing borough boundaries at a site called Hattons Platt which was owned by a Mr. Cholmeley. Few people wanted their family buried in the new cemetery until the 1850s, by which time the situation had become so bad that the three cemeteries in the centre of Reading were closed.
Reading Cemetery Gatehouse, Sarcophagus Monument and the cemetery itself are Grade II listed buildings.
The cemetery originally included two chapels, one for Anglicans and one for so-called Dissenters who refused to support Anglican rites. Burials were also divided between the Anglican consecrated ground and the Dissenters' non-consecrated ground and a small wall marked the boundary between the two.
The cemetery was extended at its far end in the early 20th century and taken over by Reading Borough Council in 1959. Occasional burials still take place there in plots purchased by families years ago. There are 18,327 grave spaces covering 11.5 acres (47,000 m2).
The cemetery contains the graves of most of the historically noteworthy occupants of the town during the period 1843–1970. The site is of great local historical interest with many large memorials, two of which are Grade II listed. The two listed memorials are the memorial to Bernard Laurence Hieatt, and others, occupies a plot at the eastern end. The memorial stands head and shoulders over most except the adjacent cross; and the cast-iron urns on the site of the Dissenters chapel. The westernmost urn is dedicated to members of the Andrewes family and the easternmost urn to members of the Barratt family. This paved area is at present obscured by a huddling Beech tree.
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