The cemetery was founded in 1845 and rectors were banned from it for nearly 100 years.
While many people associate cemeteries with churches, men of the cloth were once forbidden to enter a Victorian cemetery in Cambridgeshire. Cemeteries across the UK go back hundreds of years.
One in Cambridgeshire – the Cottenham Dissenters’ Cemetery – goes back to Victorian times. Founded in 1845, this cemetery was established as a burial ground for non-conformists. Also known as dissenters, these are members of a non-established church.
In the 1700s, there were two dissenting groups in Cottenham. The original dissenters’ group met in a barn in Broad Lane, Cottenham. The group grew over the years that followed, and in 1783, it opened the Old Baptist Chapel.
It was enlarged in 1798, then rebuilt in 1856. There was another chapel, known as Ebenezer Chapel, that opened in 1813, and the Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1865.
In 1839, there was a confrontation with Reverend John Frere when he became rector of All Saints Church. The Revd Frere was a member of the aristocracy, and people believed he didn’t fit in Cottenham.
For over 250 years, Cottenham had been a self-governing village, and many of those who made orders were well-educated farmers. When the church wardens had to collect a church rate from the villagers, who were dissenters, the wardens went on strike.
After the strike, the rector claimed he paid for the upkeep of the church and also the ropes for the bell ringing. In retaliation, the rector refused to bury the bodies or ring the bells.
The Revd Frere shared his concerns with the Bishop of Ely in a letter on May 27, 1843. Still in confrontation, Joseph Green, a minister at the Old Baptist Church, gave the dissenters an idea.
Mr Green suggested that the dissenters have their own burial ground – where church rectors were not allowed to set foot. So in 1845, an acre of ground in Lanes Lane was bought from a farmer for £280.
This money was raised from public subscription. The new cemetery officially opened in 1845. The first person reported to be buried there was three-year-old Ann Norman. Only five years after it opened, 137 bodies were buried there.
The cemetery nearly went 100 years without the rector being allowed onto the grounds. An entry from the diary of Horace Gautrey in 1937 said: “Until four or five years ago the church rector [was] not allowed to pass through the cemetery gates.” This is according to the Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network.
The cemetery is still in operation today. More than 4,000 people have been laid to rest there.