Unfortunately we have no records relating to the closure of West Harptree churchyard for burial purposes, although, as its history is so closely associated with East Harptree it seems likely that one closure took place shortly after the other.
An informative booklet on the history of the Church and Village is available for a small fee from the local Parish Council.
The maintenance regime in place at present is to cut all churchyards fortnightly (weather permitting). All pruning, hedge cutting, etc., is carried out as winter works after the grass cutting season has ended. However if you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact the main office.
The council's arboricultural office keeps the trees under a 3 yearly review and agrees minor works with the volunteers. All major tree works are carried out by the council's tree specialists
Bereavement Services carries out a 5 year rolling programme of memorial testing to ensure that memorials are preserved as well as possible. The council does not have the right to restore memorials, but it does have the responsibility to make the cemetery a reasonably safe place to visit which enables it to lay down any memorials in danger of falling. Safety in cemeteries has improved so much since such programmes were introduced, that now the main benefit from testing is to ensure that memorials are not left to rot until they fall smashing themselves, or neighbouring memorials, or both, in the process.
Was this page of interest? Your opinion is always valuable to us - please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions.