Cemetery - Audlem Burial Board

The Burials Act of 1853 enabled local authorities to administer their own cemeteries, and vestries (which were committees of members elected to administer the temporal affairs of a parish) elected Burial Boards to manage them. Audlem Burial Board was formed on 12th November 1872 to serve the needs of the ecclesiastical parishes of Audlem, with representatives from each of Audlem, Buerton, Dodcott-cum-Wilkesley and Hankelow.

It originally also included Tittenley, which subsequently transferred to Shropshire in 1895 and was later annexed to Adderley civil parish. The land for the cemetery was purchased by the Board on 4th February 1874 and the cemetery opened for burials on 16th September 1874, with the first burial on 4th December 1874.

In 1894 the duties of the Boards were transferred to district and parish councils who joined together to form a Cemetery or Burial Board. Thus, in the same year, Audlem Burial Committee came into being, appointed by the civil Parish Councils and meeting within the area of the old Burial Board district. The names of the first Audlem Parish Councillors on the new Board were: Messrs Thomas Henry Smith, Richard Vernon Eardley, Levi Shuker and James Millington.

The committee (Burial Board) is still made up of members of the Parish Councils covered by the boundaries of the cemetery area and meets quarterly to administer the management of the cemetery. It is envisaged that the life of the cemetery is likely to extend for a further 100 years.

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