Our cemeteries
Our cemeteries are always open for visitors who want to visit a grave or to spend time reflecting in peaceful surroundings. We look after:
- Badshot Lea Cemetery
- Green Lane Cemetery
- Hale Cemetery, and
- West Street Cemetery
Parking
Badshot Lea Cemetery There is a small lay by for two cars. Further parking may be found along the roadside.
Green Lane Cemetery There is parking for approximately six cars at the top entrance lay by.
Hale Cemetery On street parking only.
West Street Cemetery Parking for around six cars.
Accessibility
If you have a mobility or physical disability and would like to take your car to a graveside, please get in touch using the contact details on this page.
Cemetery rules and guidelines
We have a set of cemetery regulations and guidelines in place to ensure the cemeteries are pleasant places for all. We welcome everybody to our cemeteries but ask all visitors to act in a manner that is respectful to the deceased and bereaved. Dogs can be walked in our cemeteries. To ensure the cemeteries are pleasing for everybody we ask that visitors with dogs:
1. Keep dogs on leads at all time. If your dog is not on a lead and you are asked to do so, you must put it on a lead straightaway
2. Keep to paths when walking your dog. With the exception of assistance dogs, dogs are not allowed on grassed areas.
3. Remove dog mess, which you can dispose of in litter bins in the cemetery.
Finding a grave
A map showing the general layout of the cemetery can be found on the noticeboards at the main entrance to each cemetery. If you would like to see a detailed plan showing the position and allocation of grave spaces please contact us to make an appointment.
Graves of note
Green Lane
George Sturt – writer and keen observer of daily life and social interaction. His books include The Wheelwright’s Shop and Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer. The author died in 1927 and both he and his sisters are buried in the cemetery.
Arthur J Stedman – an architect who was responsible for several notable buildings in west Surrey including the McDonald Almshouses in West Street, Farnham.
Eille Norwood born Anthony Edward Brett – actor and compiler of the Daily Express crossword puzzle. He is best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in 47 silent films.
Sir Robert Pringle – Major General in the British Army. He was director of the Army Veterinary Service and did much to improve military horse and dog conditions during the First World War.
Hale Cemetery
William Ellis – served in the XI Hussars and is said to have been the last survivor of the charge of the Light Brigade. His gravestone was bought by the XI Hussars and bears the regimental crest. The inscription reads: ‘He served in the XI Hussars and rode in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on October 25 1854’.
West Street
Mike Hawthorn – the UK’s first Formula 1 world champion in 1958. He died in a car crash on the A3 near Guildford in 1959.
Harold Falkner – Early 20th century architect who helped to maintain Farnham as a Georgian town. He worked on some 115 buildings in Farnham.
Cobbett family plot – son and daughter of the late William Cobbett who was a radical political writer and who died in 1835.
Charles Earnest Borelli – co founder of the Old Farnham Society, which aimed to promote conservation in Farnham in the early 20th century. He died in 1950.
George Elphick – founder of the first Elphick’s department store in 1881 and who died in 1921.
Commonwealth War Graves
Farnham’s cemeteries have 74 Commonwealth War Graves. These belong to casualties of World War I and World War II. The graves are marked with the traditional memorial of Portland stone and are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. West Street cemetery commemorates 40 Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials. There are 13 war graves in Green Lane cemetery, 20 in Upper Hale cemetery and one in Badshot Lea cemetery. To find a grave download a list of names and locations of CWGC memorials. See the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for records on the war dead.
War Memorials
Farnham Town Council ensures that the four war memorials at Gostrey Meadow, Hale, Badshot Lea and Weybourne are maintained and that the inscriptions are legible.
Genealogy
See our Genealogy and Cemeteries page if you would like to find out more about our cemeteries’ history and how to access cemetery records for research.
Wildlife havens
Farnham’s cemeteries provide a natural habitat for wildlife. An area in West Street cemetery near the water meadows is kept uncut during the summer months. The space has been sown with native wildflowers and this has enhanced biodiversity in the cemetery.
Our cemeteries are home to numerous bird species, butterflies, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. We encourage wildlife by creating log piles, collecting leaves to produce compost and encouraging mini ecosystems.
