Cemetery Junction, Reading

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Cemetery Junction is a road junction in the east of Reading, Berkshire, England. It is a notorious bottleneck for traffic during rush hour, with the main A4 road meeting the A329 road from Wokingham. The junction is named after a cemetery just to the east.

Reading Cemetery History

Reading Cemetery was set up by a private act of Parliament in 1842, establishing the Reading Cemetery Company. It was one of many cemeteries built by theVictorians in response to 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 and the cemetery itself are Grade II Listed buildings.

The first interment took place in 1843.

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.

[1] has a map of East Reading dated 1833.

Reading Borough Council maintains the cemetery on a conservation basis. The grass is cut, by strimmer, on four occasions per year and is raked off only if excess growth makes it necessary. The Council also carry out interments in existing graves, there being no new graves available on this site. These burials, including those of cremated remains, are currently in single figures per year. A herd of Muntjac Deer live in the cemetery grounds.

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.

Many other memorials are in the cemetery including three Old Contemptibles who served in the British Expeditionary Force and survived the Great War:

   Lance Corporal William Marshall MM, 2nd Royal Berkshire Regiment
   Captain Philip Knightley, RAMC, died April 9th 1965 
   2nd Lieutenant Ernest William Ellis, 5th Royal Berkshire Regiment

There is loads more information on war graves and memorials at [2]

Reading Cemetery is maintained by The Cemeteries and Crematorium Manager, Henley Road Cemetery, All Hallows Road, Caversham, Reading RG4 5LP, Berkshire, United Kingdom.

Reading Borough Council has records of burials dating back to the mid 1840's and cremation records dating back to 1932. If you're searching for a record of someone who died in Reading or the surrounding areas, they may have a record of when and where they were either cremated or buried.

Contact the cemetery office on +44 (0)118 947 2433