Campaigners are opposing plans to build 20 homes on the former Tunbridge Wells Cemetery in Benhall Mill Road, arguing that human remains may still be buried there.
The Friends of the Tunbridge Wells Cemetery say the site once held 15 pauper’s graves from the 1800s, and while the council exhumed 15 bodies in 2019 for a depot project, they believe others remain due to wet ground and the absence of coffins. They also claim the land is still consecrated, as they have found no record of deconsecration.
The council says the section in question is not consecrated, that the exhumed remains were reburied respectfully with a memorial, and that all works were done in consultation with the Friends group. Campaigners say the council has not provided proof that all remains were removed or that the land was deconsecrated.
Could this dispute signal a wider trend of councils redeveloping closed cemeteries or graveyards, or even reopening them for new burials when existing plots are more than a century old?
I should stress here that as far as we know there are no plans to either reuse existing burial plots or to build on the Cheriton Road cemetery..
