Kingston Cemetery

HISTORY

When East Cowes was a small village in pre-Victorian era the dead were buried in St. Mildred’s, Whippingham churchyard.

St. James' Church in East Cowes was consecrated in 1833 and the churchyard was used until it too began to reach capacity. A burial board was set up in 1873 to search out another suitable site.

In August 1876 Queen Victoria gave 3.5 acres of Kingston Farm land to be used as a public cemetery. She also donated the cast iron gates for the entrance which once stood near to the Prince of Wales Gate of Osborne House.

The cemetery was ready for consecration by late 1876, and the first burial was that of Maria Amberstone Chiverton, aged 52, who was interred on 10th January 1877.

Interments in the extension across Kingston Road began in 1954, and most burials now take place there.

LOTTERY FUNDED PROJECT

In 2006 The Friends of East Cowes Cemetery applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Local Heritage initiative for money to promote the heritage of East Cowes and rejuvenate the Kingston Road Cemetery for the benefit of the residents of East Cowes.

We were granted several thousand pounds and we used the money to repair paths, paint the gates, pollard trees and clear areas of the grounds which had become overgrown and neglected and purchased three benches for the central circle and erected three information panels. Peter Lloyd repaved the old ‘mortuary’ area and we repaired the bench thereon. The bronze panel on a wooden post near the gates bears an inscription provided by Glyn Roberts.

We also had open days and events to show what we were doing and produced a booklet about the cemetery detailing notable graves and the flora and fauna which live in the grounds.

We created a garden near the entrance where once a greenhouse and the mortuary chapel stood, provided several benches for visitors and planted a tree in the centre circle where the long-demolished chapel was located. Countryside Rangers helped by putting up bird and bat boxes and local schoolchildren planted bulbs along the central avenue.

Part of the funding was allocated to the creation of a database of the burials and the creation of a website to allow research and education about the people buried there. We will add photos of memorials and further information gleaned by Janet Griffin from the Records Office. Ken Wheeler is now also adding to the photographic records.

Since then we have had regular tidy ups as well as involving the local schools in planting bulbs, siting bird and bat boxes in the trees and organising events.

ANNUAL BLITZ COMMEMORATION

Every year, on the anniversary of the large air raid on East Cowes in May 1942, The Friends organise a commemorative service at the cemetery centred around the communal civilian war grave.

A service led by local clergy is joined by East Cowes councillors and local residents to remember the many people lost to air raids over the course of the Second World War.

We are often joined by members of the crew of the Polish ship ORP Błyskawica, which helped to fight off the aircraft on the night of the bombing and is now a museum ship in Gdynia, Poland.

There have been two years of holding subdued, socially-distanced commemorations at the Kingston Cemetery memorial, due to the Covid pandemic. But on May 5th 2022 we were able to hold the traditional Act of Remembrance to mark the 80th anniversary of the Cowes/East Cowes Blitz.

A short service was led by Father Jonathan Redvers Harris of St. David’s Church, assisted by Rev. David Plumb of East Cowes Methodist Church. Our Chairman, Ken Wheeler read out the names of all local people who lost their lives to Luftwaffe bombing raids during WW2 and then Musician Karen Walker of the Medina Marching Band played the Last Post and Reveille.

Wreaths and other floral tributes were laid at the memorial. We were pleased that a party of Polish Naval personnel from ORP Błyskawica was present to add a traditional Polish funerary lantern.

Among those at the service were several folks who remembered the actual night of the Blitz, plus representatives of Ryde Fire Service, the Royal Naval Association and the Royal British Legion. Mayor of East Cowes, Tracey Reardon and the Błyskawica Society’s President Geoff Banks were among the wreath-layers. The service was part of a weeklong programme of events on both sides of the Medina.

For the story of the Polish destroyer ORP Byskawica and its connection with our two towns, visit the Friends of the ORP Blyskawica Society website

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