Despite its size and its position in a bustling area of the city, many people only know Locksbrook Cemetery from the outside or as a convenient dog-walking destination.
Created in response to a national necessity to sanitise burial practices, its genesis was somewhat troubled, but it was ultimately created with lofty ambitions and equally lofty architecture, originally with panoramic views across the city from the upper portions. Classic cemetery symbolism can be discovered at every turn and there are notable burials among the marked graves.
Now that the cemetery has been largely closed for new burials for over eighty years, the force of nature is at work all around. Specimen trees and – more recently – conservation grass management practices make for a wildlife haven within the city and a new, evolving role for an old resource. Our walk will focus on the history of the cemetery and neither the distance nor the terrain of the walk will be particularly taxing, but we will be on our feet for a couple of hours.
The walk is less than a mile on mainly flat, paved paths. The walk starts inside the gates, accessed by the Locksbrook Cemetery Lodge, Upper Bristol Road, BA1 3DQ.
Dogs on leads welcome.
The paths are wheelchair friendly, though there are some slopes.
The nearest facilities – shops and cafes on Chelsea Road, there are no toilets in the Cemetery. There are frequent buses servicing the Upper Bristol Road. There is parking for disabled people at the Cemetery.
The walk leader is John Branston.
Book your tickets here – locksbrook-the-making-of-a-cemetery
