On the 14th October 1873, “the committee of visitors elected…on behalf of the county of Somerset, to represent the Pauper Lunatic Asylum erected for the sole purpose of the said county”, paid the sum of £400 for “one close of meadow or pasture land…at a place called Broadstone”.
This land, lying just off the Bath Road in Wells, was purchased from the trustees of the estate of the late Edmund Davies.
The committee intended that the land should be used as a cemetery for the Somerset and Bath Lunatic Asylum, later known as the Mendip Hospital. A few months later the committee purchased an additional strip of land to allow access to the cemetery from the Bath Road.
In January1874 the cemetery was consecrated. The chairman of the committee of visitors, Francis Henry Dickinson, gave the undertaking that the cemetery would be enclosed “by a substantial stone wall and secure entrance gate”, and that a chapel would be built and “furnished with all things necessary for the convenient performance of the burial service”.
By 1921 more space was sought which resulted in an area of land to the west of the cemetery being consecrated. This brought the size of the cemetery up to nearly 3 acres.
In 1948 the hospital cemetery was transferred to the Minister of Health by virtue of the 1946 National Health Service Act, and it has remained under the ownership of the NHS since then.
A large percentage of the graves were marked by a simple numbered iron marker. Most of these were removed from the ground before July 2000.
During the 85 years that the cemetery was in use, 2,910 burials took place. The last took place in December 1962 and the cemetery was closed for burials the following year.
In the 1980s the upkeep of the cemetery passed into the hands of the Wells branch of the Somerset Trust for Nature Conservation who intended it for use as a nature reserve and environmental study centre for local schools. Though some repairs and were undertaken, new gates installed to replace the stolen originals, their plans never came to fruition, and in early 1997 the gates were locked and all maintenance ceased. In June 2000 the forgotten cemetery, now untended for many years was put up for sale as a development opportunity. The fight to save it now began, starting here in Wells. The talk given by Dr Hervey, below, helped aid the Friends of Mendip Hospital Cemetery in eventually saving it.
The Story of Mendip Hospital – from its founding in 1848 until closure in 1991
Dr Morag Hervey (formerly Bailey), for many years a senior psychiatric physician at the Mendip Hospital, gave a talk about its long history and achievements. This was given in St. Thomas Church, Wells, on 20th October 2000, to help raise awareness of the importance of saving the Mendip Hospital Cemetery from development. Dr Hervey concluded her lecture with the following words:
“……That brings me, in conclusion, to say a word about the dangers confronting the old Mendip Hospital burial ground. It seems to me that any thought of turning it over to commercial use would be a final act of contempt towards people who had known too much contempt during their lives. They are now beyond damage but we are not. Contempt always damages the contemptuous. Furthermore, the fragile improvement there has been in the attitude of society towards mentally ill people would be countered by a public message of this sort. I wish the Friends of Mendip Hospital Cemetery every success.”