Congregationalist Cemetery, Ponsharden

Some of Falmouth's diverse religious groups seen listed in a guidebook from 1827

From the late 17th century Falmouth (and to a lesser extent Penryn) supported a significant number of nonconformist religious groups, including Congregationalists (also known as Independents), Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Quakers. A significant Jewish population could also be found in the town.[6] Dissenting Christian congregations often had their own place of worship, but unless they owned a private burial ground they were usually buried in the local parish churchyard (often in unconsecrated ground).[7]

The Dissenters of Falmouth and Penryn acquired their first (and only) dedicated burial ground in early 1808, when they were given a plot of land at Ponsharden ‘through the kindness and liberality of Mr Samuel Tregelles, a reputable Merchant in Falmouth’.[8] The new burial ground stood adjacent to an older Jewish cemetery ‘in the corner of the lower field, adjoining the Turnpike Road’. It was given to the Dissenters free of cost ‘on the simple condition of the ground being enclosed by a good stone wall, to encompass the Jew’s Burial Ground’.[9]

Falmouth and Penryn’s Dissenters began using the new cemetery almost immediately after enclosing it in the summer of 1808. The first of Penryn’s congregation to be buried was Abia, the daughter of John and Dolly Nicholls of Gwennap. Abia died on 18 August 1808 and was buried ‘amid a vast concourse which had filled the Ground from the novelty of a Burial amongst Dissenters’ (over 700 people attended the funeral).[10] Falmouth's first burial was that of Mrs Christiana Daubuz ‘a Lady of eminent piety & one of the chief supporters of the Independent Chapel’ who in November 1808 was interred ‘amid a very large concourse of persons'.[11] The cemetery's burial registers have mostly survived, although the entries are incomplete between the years 1880–1893 and 1906–1935. The volumes offer valuable information on the intensity of use that the cemetery experienced, as follows:[1]

This gives a total of 543 recorded burials. However, there are an additional 22 headstones at the cemetery representing names that do not appear in the official registers.[12] These unlisted burials, combined with the above registers, give a total figure of circa 587 interments on site, of which approximately 382 lie in unmarked graves.[13]

The vandalised Glasson family vault, which has been almost entirely destroyed

There are no existing records to indicate that the Congregationalist cemetery was ever officially closed, and the circumstances surrounding its decline and abandonment are presently unclear. The last entry in the burial registers is dated November 1905[14] but existing headstones show that several interments took place after this, including that of Elizabeth Tully Cook in 1912 and four members of the Newcombe family of Penryn in the 1920s and 1930s. The latest known burial on site is that of Mary Elizabeth Newcombe, in April 1935.[15] These late interments involved re-opening established family plots, and it appears no new ground was used during the cemetery's latter days.

The large number of burials that took place at Ponsharden might have been a factor in its closure. The cemetery is only 0.22 acres in size (913m²) and the 587 burials would have stretched its limited capacity. Additionally, in 1854 a new municipal cemetery was opened near Swanpool, Falmouth, complete with a chapel and burial area specifically set aside for Dissenters. The attraction of this spacious new site must also be considered when contemplating the Congregationalist cemetery's decline, although the Ponsharden burial registers do not start to show reduced figures until 20 years after the cemetery at Swanpool was opened.

A view of the cemetery (looking west) before and after clearance work took place

Once disused, the site was left unattended for a period of almost 80 years. Gradually the cemetery was engulfed by self-sown trees, which caused extensive damage as they grew between (and through) the monuments. Dense brambles, ivy and scrub spread across the burial ground, obscuring a large number of low-lying monuments from view. The overgrown nature of the site meant it was difficult to monitor any activity taking place there, and during the 20th century it experienced extensive vandalism (at least 33 monuments were seriously damaged), which included the smashing of headstones, the deliberate destruction of family vaults, the robbing of slate and granite from monuments and the excavation of at least two graves.[16]

In 2002 English Heritage recognised the national importance of the Congregationalist cemetery and an older Jewish burial ground which adjoins it, and both sites were designated a single Scheduled Monument (English Heritage Ref No.15581).[17][5] A Cornwall Council Archaeological Report of 2010 summarised the importance of the cemeteries, stating that "their time spans, rare features, group value, siting, varied evidence of past religious, social and economic life, complexity and natural diversity combine to make them highly significant". However, the report also noted that 'the condition of the Congregationalist's site is very poor and deteriorating, and indeed can be described as deplorable. The cemetery has many interrelated active and potential risks, affecting highly sensitive and unrecorded graves and associated features'.[18]

In May 2012 Falmouth Town Council and English Heritage granted permission for a volunteer group to clear the scrub from the cemetery and undertake a survey of all the surviving monuments (see Site Survey, below).[19] In parallel with the survey, the volunteers also reseeded the site with grass, and efforts were made to re-establish the few examples of native flora (such as the Early Purple Orchid) that had survived amongst the dense brambles and ivy.

In 2013 the volunteers were granted custodianship of the graveyard. Presently, their responsibilities include stabilising its decline, regular tidying and gardening and raising local and national awareness of the cemetery's existence. The volunteers' long-term objectives include raising funds to repair the damaged monuments, entrance-way and boundary walls, as well as officially opening the cemetery as a historic landmark.

The survey recorded a total of 91 monuments surviving at the cemetery, representing a diverse range of styles from simple slate headstones to ornate vaults with iron railings and stone urns. They record the lives of 202 people (approximately 34% of the total burials registered at Ponsharden) which indicates that the ground contains approximately 383 unmarked graves.[24]

A self-sown tree gradually destroying one of the graves at Ponsharden

The monuments survive in varied conditions:

• 7 are displaced, and their original location unknown
• 11 have inscriptions that are badly weathered
• 33 have been damaged by deliberate acts of vandalism
• 17 have been (or are still being) damaged by self-sown trees

In terms of monument types there are:

• 57 headstones (with no additional features)
• 19 headstones combined with some form of grave lining/capping
• 9 ledger or raised (chamfered) tombs
• 4 pedestal tombs/vaults
• 2 unknown monumental forms (due to vandalism)

The following stone types were recorded:

• Limestone (44 monuments)
• Slate (29 monuments)
• Sandstone (10 monuments)
• Granite (6 monuments)
• 2 monuments have had been totally destroyed, leaving a footprint in the ground but nothing else. It is therefore not possible to establish the original stone type used

Twenty-nine monuments are inscribed with the name of the mason who erected them, most of whom were members of the congregation and are also buried on site.[25] The majority (80%) of the monuments represent people who either lived or died in Falmouth. The residents of Penryn are only commemorated on 16% of the headstones, despite the cemetery being used by the congregations of both towns. Existing burial registers indicate that the majority of Penryn's residents lie in unmarked graves.[26] A further 4% of monuments are linked to persons who died elsewhere, such as Budock, Mylor or Flushing.[23]

The vault of Alexander Robinson, Wine Merchant of Regent St, London

The data collected during the survey is still being processed, and current information only covers the place of birth and professions of those persons listed on the monuments. The volunteers have stated that data relating to gender, age and cause of death will be released towards the end of 2014.[23]

The survey highlighted a wide range of birthplaces, a direct result of the graveyard serving two busy ports (Falmouth then being a major gateway to the overseas Empire). A large number of local residents from Falmouth, Penryn and Budock are represented on site, but families from across Cornwall can also be found at Ponsharden, including those from Calstock, Crowan, Gerrans, Gorran, Grade, Illogan, Launceston, Mevagissey, Mullion, Nancarrow, Redruth, Ruan Minor, St Agnes, St Austell, St Columb, St Ives, St Keverne, Sancreed, Stithians, Talland, Wadebridge and Wendron.

The cemetery also holds the remains of many people born outside of Cornwall, including natives of Scotland and Wales as well as Devon, Dorset, Dover, Essex, Liverpool, London, Somerset, Suffolk and Wiltshire. Several of the deceased were travellers who died whilst passing through Falmouth or Penryn; Walter Morris, a Welshman, died at the Greenbank Hotel after returning from a voyage to Madeira (where he was trying to restore his health)[27] and one vault contains the remains of Alexander Robinson, a wine merchant from Regent Street, London who died whilst in Falmouth.[28] When Robinson's wife (also a Londoner) died twelve years later, her body was brought from the capital to Ponsharden and laid to rest alongside her husband.[29]

A broad spectrum of trades and professions were found to be represented on site, many of which reflect Ponsharden's proximity to the sea. The cemetery contains numerous mariners, including a packet ship steward, naval surgeons, master mariners and officers in the Royal Navy and the Packet, Merchant and Coastguard services. Several headstones commemorate persons whose bodies were lost, but whose deaths were linked to the sea, including William Downing who died in the mid-Atlantic[30] and Thomas Webber, who died from Yellow Fever in Rio de Janeiro.[31] Other marine trades represented at Ponsharden include ship owners, ship builders, ship carpenters, ropers and merchants. On site can also be found tailors and drapers, boot and shoe makers, builders and carpenters, doctors, surgeons and druggists, grocers and fruit merchants, tea and spirit dealers, a lawyer, accountant and two clerks. Whilst not a trade as such, the burial ground contains numerous affluent annuitants and house proprietors who spent their entire lives living by independent means due to legacies left in wills.