Radnor Street Cemetery Chapel

For more than 15 years a small group of volunteers have been working to bring the history of the cemetery alive again and the cemetery chapel has been central to our work.

The chapel was designed in 1881 in the Gothic Revivalist style by popular local architect William Henry Read (who is buried in the cemetery). The cemetery chapel was non denominational and the burial plots in the cemetery were unconsecrated, at last the non-conformist residents of Swindon could be buried according to their own beliefs. Built to seat 100 people the chapel is austere and unfussy and painted white throughout, but this was not the original colour scheme. During repair and restoration work undertaken in 2013 we discovered that the upper walls were painted dark blue with the lower section a dark red, another fascinating aspect of the history of the building.

The cemetery chapel is central to the activities we hold, especially the Service of Remembrance. However, in recent years the numbers who attend this service have increased to such an extent that we are no longer able to meet in the chapel. Instead we gather round the Cross of Sacrifice, the Commonwealth War Graves memorial. At the end of the service the scouts place a cross on each of the 104 Commonwealth War Graves.

In 2014 we hosted the launch of Swindon in the Great War, a four year project to commemorate the events of the First World War. An exhibition of First World War artefacts and photographs at the end of the commemoration period was a great success.

And in 2015 the Duke of Gloucester was guest of honour at a Battle of Britain 75th anniversary commemorative event held at the cemetery. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flew over Radnor Street Cemetery and the grave of Squadron Leader Harold Morley Starr, a Swindon born pilot who was shot down by enemy aircraft above Kent on August 31, 1940.

*Launch of Swindon in the Great War commemorations 201*4

restoration and redecoration work in 2013

*Remembrance Day 2015 and the Trinity Wesleyan Methodist War memorial rescued from a garden in Gorse Hill*

*The Sanford Street School Roll of Honour was placed in the cemetery chapel for safekeeping*

*This commemorative plaque was placed in the cemetery chapel for safekeeping*

311 - An outstanding 'Battle of Britain' Squadron C.O.'s campaign grou...

The Duke of Gloucester at the grave of Squadron Leader Harold Morley Starr

*Local schoolchildren designed stained glass windows for the chapel as part of the 2015* *Battle of Britain 75th anniversary commemorations.*

Join us for a guided cemetery walk on September 15, 2024 to celebrate Heritage Open Days. Meet at the chapel at 1.45. Walk begins at 2 p.m.

We don’t know where the chapel bell is or when it was removed. Was it taken down when the cemetery closed to new burials – or was it stolen by vandals?

A tolling bell was once a significant feature of death and funeral rituals. Traditionally a bell was run to warn of an impending death to alert the curate his services were required. A death knell was rung immediately after death when the number of pulls were significant, two for a woman with a pause and three for a man. A solemn toll was rung at the time of the funeral.

The Radnor Street Cemetery Chapel was designed in the Gothic Revivalist style by popular local architect W.H. Read. The bell tower is surmounted by its own set of mythical beasts, grotesques* that once guarded the now missing bell.

In 1881 when the Burial Board published the cost of a burial in the new cemetery it included –

For tolling Chapel bell if required 1s

For tolling Chapel bell above one hour extra, and so on in proportion 1s

Today the silent bell tower has been adopted by the cemetery pigeons who enjoy their very own room with a view.

*gargoyles redirect rain water – grotesques have no spout.

Tag: Radnor Street Cemetery Chapel

For Whom the Bell Tolls