Friends Of Heene Cemetery

Heene Cemetery is a 1-acre, town-centre cemetery in west Worthing. Created from unimproved meadowland in 1873 and closed by Act of Parliament in 1977, today the cemetery shelters peacefully behind its Victorian brick and flint walls. It is the final resting place for 1,961 souls, 8 of whose graves are marked by Commonwealth War Grave Commission headstones. In addition, the cemetery is a designated Local Wildlife Site. The Friends of Heene Cemetery are researching and documenting the biographies of all the cemetery’s ‘residents’. Alongside this, species are regularly being surveyed in a collaborative venture that is supported by a network of specialists. Both sets of data, one from the past, the other in the here and now, are detailed on their website. These labours are matched on the ground with conservation work that aims for a biodiversity balance between tidiness and natural disorder, with priority being given to graves that relatives wish to visit. The changing seasons successively obscure and reveal headstones in a riot of natural, often unplanted, colour. The Friends open the gates twice weekly, giving a warm welcome to members of the public.