Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery

On Saturday 2nd October, The Rev. Carol White officiated at a short service arranged by the Trustees of Arnos Vale cemetery. It was held in the Anglican chapel and attended by some the families of those who now also have plaques on the new memorial wall. After the service, The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Colin Smith led the congregation to the new wall which he inaugurated by cutting a tape across the enclosure.

The plaques on the new memorial wall at Arnos Vale Cemetery

The Lord Mayor of Bristol and his Lady after the ceremony

The sun shone brightly as a small group of Friends and Trustees gathered by the new memorial wall at Arnos Vale Cemetery around lunch time on Saturday 26th June. The picture below shows the plaque that was unveiled in memory of Richard Smith MBE.

The memorial to Richard Smith MBE

Long ago, some paths beside the Anglican chapel at Arnos Vale Cemetery became overgrown and disused and the area became a convenient rubbish tip. In fact, underneath what had appeared to be waste land upon which the rubbish accumulated were some of earliest Anglican graves in the cemetery. Between those old graves and the boundary wall in this particular area of the cemetery we located a lost communal grave used for the eventual interment of the remains of people who had donated their bodies for medical science. For almost three years, volunteers have been working in the area, first to remove all the rubbish and expose the big old grave stones, then to level the ground and reopen the old path that ran up along the boundary wall; finally, grass seed was sown.

On Saturday 19th June a dedication service took place for a simple memorial on the ground once used for the burials. The stone was prepared and donated by a monumental mason who once worked at the cemetery and remembered the burials. He attended the service along with some of the volunteers who helped to clear the ground and the family of one of those who had been interred some 39 year ago.

Now there is a quiet shady spot where those who made this final gift, can be remembered.

The memorial by the cemetery boundary wall

Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust celebrated the completion of the restoration project over the May bank holiday weekend this year. The Trust estimates that the cemetery welcomed over 4000 visitors during the celebrations.

Visitors enjoy singing in the Restored Anglican Chapel at Arnos Vale Cemetery

April 2010 - Arnos Vale Cemetery re-launch festival - "Top Jeweller creates a funds-raising angel for historic Arnos Vale"

Award-winning jewellery designer, Diana Porter, has crafted an exclusive lapel pin, inspired by angels, to help raise funds for the upkeep of our very special Victorian cemetery in Bristol.

The design of the silver pin is inspired by the many angel statues at the cemetery which will be officially re-opened by the Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust on Thursday 29 April as “a heritage, wildlife and education centre” as well as a Cemetery.

A celebratory festival will be held over the early May Bank Holiday weekend to mark its restoration and the conclusion of the successful community-led campaign, founded by the Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery (formerly APAC), to save Arnos Vale from re-development. To safeguard the site further, the charity (Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust) is launching a new-look supporters’ scheme – the Arnos Vale Angels – to fund future site improvements and the development of a programme of activities and research.

Enrolment for the Arnos Vale Angels starts at £25 a year and comes with a package of rewards, including Angels-only tours, a newsletter, assorted discounts and free map. In addition, subscribers who promise £60 or more a year will become Guardian Angels and gain extra benefits, including an exclusive lapel pin, designed especially for the scheme by Diana Porter who says: “Arnos Vale is the most wonderful place and it’s such a delight to find these acres of natural beauty, history and creativity so close to the city centre. I really hope that the people of Bristol, and beyond, get behind its renaissance and that my designs encourage them to show their support in a meaningful way.”

Details of how to subscribe to the Angels scheme are available from the Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust offices, next to the site’s main entrance on the A4 Bath Road, Bristol, BS4 3EW, telephone 0117 971 9117; email: angels@arnosvale.org.uk and from the charity’s website: www.arnosvale.org.uk

The 'Friends of Arnos Vale Cemetery' continue to support Arnos Vale Cemetery in the promotion, preservation and general running of the cemetery and membership is still available for those who wish to support specific cemetery projects directly (e.g. currently monument conservation and provision of tools). Details of how to join are here