Cemetery & Columbarium
Columbarium and West Road Cemetery
The St. Mark’s family is extremely blessed to have both the St. Mark’s Columbarium and the West Road Cemetery for the interment of the cremated remains of Parish members and their families.
Trustees are responsible for the administration and maintaining the gracious simplicity of both burial places and are appointed by the Rector and approved by the Vestry.
We pray that the souls of the faithfully departed will rest in peace, and we pledge to keep the resting place of the saints a gracious and dignified place where we may come and remember.
The West Road Cemetery
The West Road Cemetery, established in 1764, is at the original site of what became St. Mark’s Parish and has been used for the burial of Parish members since colonial times. When the congregation established St. Mark’s Parish at the site on God’s Acre in 1833 (now St. Michael’s Lutheran Church), the entire West Road site was converted to a cemetery and has been continuously maintained by the Parish for this purpose. Today, ancient tombstones surrounded by old stone walls and bounded by mature trees provide a dignified and appropriate setting for burial.
In 2023, together with the Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), St. Mark’s dedicated two commemorative markers in West Road Cemetery. One marker commemorates Capt. Stephen Betts, a founder and first Warden of the worshiping community that became St. Mark’s, and a Revolutionary war hero and patriot. The other marker commemorates Jesse Betts, an African man who was an enslaved member of Capt. Betts’ household and is buried alongside the Betts family in West Road Cemetery.
The St. Mark’s Columbarium
The St. Mark’s Columbarium was established in 1979 on the present campus. Utilizing low stone walls for the interment of ashes, the Columbarium continues the traditions established at the West Road Cemetery.
The idea of creating a Columbarium to contain the ashes of deceased communicants of St. Mark’s was developed in 1977 by two parishioners, Evelyn Hamilton and Henrietta Rogers, who felt that the need for such a facility was clear, as the beautiful little cemetery yard on West Road, now over two hundred years old, rapidly approached capacity. They felt also that the property behind the church house was an ideal location. This long-unused area, once the site of formal gardens of the former McLane estate was graded at three levels, was close to the church itself and was contiguous to other unused St. Mark’s property which could be developed to extend the Columbarium capacity for years to come.
Cemetery and Columbarium Guidelines
Reservations
Reservations may be made by members of the Parish for themselves or for members of their immediate families (e.g., their parents or their children) for the use of an interment plot or columbarium niche. Such reservations shall be accepted in the order of the receipt of payment and will be so recorded in the Cemetery Records.
Payments
Each reservation shall be confirmed in writing by the Trustees upon receipt of payment in full.
Cancellations
Any reservation holder (or their executor or administrator) wishing to cancel a reservation for an interment plot may do so at any time after full payment or initial down payment has been received, by releasing the plot back to St. Mark’s, with payments rendered acknowledged as a tax-deductible gift. Reservations are not refundable.
Transfers
Reservations of interment plots are not transferable except to immediate family members with approval of the Trustees and may be used only for the burial of ashes of the person(s) named in the Letter of Agreement unless otherwise agreed by the Trustees.
Cemetery Monuments
The cost of monuments shall be borne by the purchaser or the estate. The size of monuments shall be limited, in keeping with the present character of the cemetery. Flat and slanted stones shall be 2 feet in length, 1 foot in width. Flat stones shall be set flush with grade. Slanted stones shall be set at 8 inches above grade at the back and 6 inches above grade at the front. Tablets are limited to the width of 1 foot 6 inches, a height of 2 feet 6 inches and a depth of 3 inches. All monuments shall be engraved natural stone. Monument designs are subject to approval by the Trustees. All ashes will be interred to the east of the monuments, in keeping with a tradition followed at the cemetery for over 150 years.
Columbarium Containers
Ashes to be buried must be in a covered container not to exceed overall dimensions of 7” x 7” x 7” (or 7” x 7” x 11” in St. David’s Wall). Single niches may contain the ashes of one person only. Double niches may contain the ashes of two people (or three in some cases).
Columbarium Name Plaques
As soon as practicable after interment of ashes, the Trustees will arrange for the preparation of a bronze name plaque to be permanently affixed to the flagstone covering the numbered niche involved. Each plaque will contain the first, middle (or initial), and last name of the deceased and the dates of birth and death, according to information supplied by the individual or by the agent of the estate. Any variations from these specifications must be discussed with the Trustees and agreed to in writing.
Scattering Ashes
The scattering of ashes is not permissible in the Columbarium, the Cemetery, or on any other property owned by St. Mark’s Church.
120: Gethsemane
