HISTORY
A meeting was called in 1850 to discuss
buying a plot of land for a new
cemetery. A week later the paymasters
of the vestry recommended to the town
that a general subscription be raised to
assist the Dissenters in their quest.
Most Anglican burial grounds in
Frome were closed to new burials at the
time, partly because they were full but
also because they were in the centre of
town and were therefore a health risk
(as in the cholera epidemics in London
in this period, caused by the pollution of
drinking water by nearby burial
grounds.)
When the dissenters' cemetery was
built, it was right on the edge of town,
in fact it was a simple field. There were
open fields (owned by the Earl of Cork
and Orrery) running all the way to
Spring Gardens. The Earl, who owned
Marston House, sold the field to the
Trustees in January 1851. The first burial
was in September 1851. cont’d
History