• Member of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends
Friends Of Bedford Cemetery

Bedford’s first municipal cemetery was opened in June 1855. The chosen site of 18 acres of farmland (later enlarged to 37 acres), situated on rising ground known as Foster’s Hill north of the town centre, was bought for the town by James Wyatt (1816-78) in his capacity as Borough treasurer. As Editor of the Bedford Times, which he founded in 1845, he spent several years campaigning for a cemetery for Bedford. Sadly, one of the first to be buried in the new cemetery was his eldest son Otho, who died in July 1855 aged 10. The Wyatt Tomb enclosure contains a variety of memorials to family members buried between 1855 and 1988.