Cemetery Information

LONG MELFORD CEMETERY CONTACT DETAILS, FEES & REGULATIONS
Long Melford Cemetery is located immediately adjacent to the churchyards of the Holy Trinity Church, Rectory Gardens, Long Melford, Sudbury CO10 9DT. For enquiries, please contact the Cemetery Manager, Alan Swayer, on Tel.: 07970 293003 / Email: cemeterymanager@longmelford-pc.gov.uk.

Information about Cemetery’s fees and regulations can be accessed via the following links:
Cemetery Fees 2024-25 – Effective from 1st April 2024
Cemetery Fees 2023-24 – Effective from 1st April 2023 
Cemetery Regulations
Cemetery Map

Long Melford Parish Council Burial Authority is a member of
The Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management

ABOUT LONG MELFORD CEMETERY & THE OLD CHURCHYARDS
Long Melford Cemetery is situated at the top of Melford Green, beside the 15th Century Church of the Holy Trinity. The Cemetery is owned and maintained by the Parish Council, which constitutes the Burial Authority governing the facility. It is unconsecrated ground and the facility is thus able to accept funerals for the deceased of all faiths, and those of no faith. The old, closed churchyards are the property of the Church and are maintained by the Parish Council on its behalf.

The Church’s size and beauty owes much to the wealth created by the wool trade, with Long Melford being one of the richest places in the country during the medieval period. The Cemetery is bordered by the village green, the Kentwell Hall estate, and the old churchyards, and covers approximately three and a half acres.

The Cemetery and the old churchyard area to the front of the Church are maintained to a high standard, and are seen as an asset for attracting local tourism and the interest of visitors from around the world. The old churchyard area to the rear of the Church is conserved to provide a quiet, respectful setting in a natural environment that promotes wildlife. Here can be found many wrought iron crosses which were made by workers at the local Ward & Silver foundry, who were allowed to create them in their own time to mark the graves of their deceased loved ones. There are more iron markers in the Long Melford rear old churchyard than anywhere else in Europe.

The Old Cemetery to the east of the Church is comprised of approximately 1000 plots. It was opened in 1949 using land donated by the Starkie Bence family, who at that time owned Kentwell Hall.

The New Cemetery, situated to the north west of the Church, was opened in October 2021 and comprises approximately 150 plots. This land, which in the past was used to tether horses and park carriages, was acquired from the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich in 1995.