Milton Road Cemetery Chapel
The charming neo-14th century Gothic
Chapels and Upper Gate Lodge were built in pink Carboniferous
limestone quarried on site, with buff Bath stone for mouldings.
Originally there were two adjoining chapels for Church of England
and non-Conformist services, though the latter was demolished in
1980. The tower surmounted by an octagonal spire houses the chapel
bell and was deliberately aligned in front of the top entrance
gate.
(The Lower Gate Lodge and entrance in
Milton Road were part of the Ashcombe House estate becoming
cemetery property only when burial facilities were extended
downhill in the 1930s)
With help of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the restoration of the
Chapel's Bell Tower and the re-hanging of the Bell were
completed in November 2010. The Chapel now houses small
exhibitions which have been organised by the Friends of Milton
Road Cemetery and provided by Worle Community School as part of
their enrichment week..
The picture below was supplied to Weston-super-Mare Town Council
after an article was published in the Weston Mercury asking for
images of both the Church of England Chapel and the Non-Conformist
Chapel together prior to 1980. The Town Council and the Friends
would like to thank Mr Palmer for the picture.
The repair of the Chapel
Work started on the Chapel on 3rd August 2010. The Bell Tower was dismantled by 1 - 1/2 metres and rebuilt with other repair work on the stone being done in situ. The cement pointing has been removed and replaced with a limestone mortar.
Part of the work done by the Friends of Milton Road Cemetery included the writing and publication of two educational booklets.
These have proved very popular with the schools and the Museum.
Despite the cold and the frosty weather one November morning, the opening of the Chapel at Milton Road Cemetery had a good turn out with the Mayor, Councillor Philip Judd, John Penrose MP and Roger Goulding from the Heritage Lottery Fund present to officially re-open the Chapel.
The Mayor cut through the ribbon allowing Roger Goulding to ring the Bell, which had not rung for more than 30 years. John Penrose MP, Minister for Tourism and for Heritage then made a speech before the awaiting public, Councillors and the Friends of Milton Road Cemetery could then escape the windy weather and enter the Chapel.
The walls adorned the photographic exhibition taken by the pupils of Worle Community School during their enrichment week earlier in the year, with flowers enhancing the tall Chapel windows.
The Development Officer to the Town Council said "This has been a wonderful project to work and the involvement from Worle Community School has been fantastic, the photographs taken by the children were second to none and they have enhanced the Chapel.
I'd like to thank the Heritage Lottery Fund for helping to save such a fantastic building and thank you to the Friends of Milton Road Cemetery for all their help and support, and thank you to the Ground Staff who helped make the day go so smoothly"
For further information on the Chapel, or if you are interested in joining the Friends of Milton Road Cemetery, please contact Theresa Donald, Amenities Officer, at the Town Council on 01934 632575.
Picture supplied by the Weston Mercury
