Denne Cemetery trail

Denne Road Cemetery plays an important part in Horsham’s historic heritage.

Laid to rest within these grounds are those whose lives and work made a significant contribution to the town and district.

Opened in July 1852, by 1856 the cemetery had become Horsham’s only permitted burial ground.

An ornate lychgate leads to the original St Mary’s section which contains notable graves from the mid-19th century.  By 1880 more space was needed, and the adjoining land was purchased for an extension. The lodge house was built at this time as a home for the sexton, the church officer who tended the grounds, and is now privately owned.

The larger part of the graveyard extension was consecrated (declared sacred) in 1885, with a section being left unconsecrated for ‘the burial of Dissenters or others who object to the ceremony’*.

By 1900 this new part was also becoming full, and land was purchased on Guildford Road for ‘Hills Cemetery’, still in use today.

Designated a Local Wildlife Site in 1992, today the cemetery is a haven for wildlife and considered of county-wide significance for its biodiversity.

Visit the cemetery wildlife page

Many of the mature trees, including the avenue of western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), remain from the creation of the 1885 extension. Mr W. Egerton Hubbard of ‘Leonardslee’ had kindly supplied these. Alongside are rarer trees, formerly part of a ‘Peace Garden’ containing plants from Allied Countries who took part in WWII.

There were over 3000 burials in this cemetery. Most were unmarked, and many gravestones that once existed have been lost over time. Highlighted here are the stories of just a few of those people whose stones can still be seen.  Many more are detailed in ‘Waking the Dead: A Pocket Guide to Denne Road Cemetery’ by Susan C. Djabri.

Also, guided tours of the cemetery, ‘Stories from the Stones’, are offered by Horsham Society.