Town marks opening of first cemetery since 1898

The council says the new cemetery is an important moment for Widnes

A town has seen the unveiling of its first new cemetery in more than 125 years .

Peel House Cemetery, in Widnes, was opened by the deputy mayor of Halton, Councillor Martha Lloyd Jones.

Built on a 12-acre site, which was formerly part of Fairfield High School's playing fields, it is the first newly-built cemetery in the town since Birchfield Road Cemetery opened in 1898.

Construction of Peel House was completed in April 2020, at a cost of £1.3m. It has provision for an estimated 50 years for full burials and cremated-remains burials, as well as cremated-remains sanctum vaults.

'Important moment'

The opening of Peel House marks the culmination of a long process which began when a working group was set up by the council in 2011 to find a new site, after it was revealed the Birchfield Road Cemetery was running out of space.

The deputy mayor told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The creation of a new cemetery is not an everyday occurrence – it signifies a very important moment in time, for an authority and for the community.

“It demonstrates the importance of providing a fitting place to remember people that we have lost, and shows the care and attention we place in doing this.”

The site includes a columbarium garden, described as a "quiet, contemplative space" affording above-ground granite vaults in which cremated remains are housed.

At the centre of the site is another garden, with covered seating facing a central Pennine stone monolith.

The southern half of the site is currently maintained as a meadow seeded with wild flowers, and the perimeter is planted with a native mix of hedgerow and woodland trees.