The Old and New Cemeteries

Helmsley's Old and New Cemeteries are next to each other and both are owned by Helmsley Town Council. They are managed differently which is in part a reflection of their current use. Both are open from dawn to dusk. Dogs are allowed but please keep them on a lead and clear up after them.

The council is fortunate to have a keen group of Cemetery Volunteers who concentrate their work on the Old Cemetery, creating conservation areas, conservation woodpiles, clearing up litter, fallen branches and sticks and general detritus.

Grass cutting and general maintenance

The council's contractor cuts the grass. In the New Cemetery all the grass is cut 12 times a year. In the Old Cemetery, a grass path is cut, and alongside the tarmac paths and the northern areas by the New Cemetery are cut x12, the rest of the grass will be cut once a year from 2024.

Trees

The trees are inspected every 2 years by an arboriculturalist. Once they are a certain size they are numbered. The surveys are available on this website, please see Documents and the appropriate tag. Follow up, and any interim work, is underaken by a local tree surgeon. Bilsdale Trees crown lifted the two beech trees by Carlton Lane in 2023.

Memorials

Around 2017, the council undertook a major project to restore and secure any memorials that needed work in the cemeteries and the Churchyard. The North York Moors National Park Authority helped with some small grants. The council chose to restore the memorials rather than lay them flat or put them by the boundaries as some do. The work was undertaken by Dales of Thirsk over the years, most recently in the New Cemetery as even some modern ones less than 10 years old needed refixing.

There is a regular programme of inspection for the safety of memorials. The council has a contract with the memorial masons Dales of Thirsk and their inspection regime has replaced any interim inspections that used to be done by councillors and the clerk. Please note that a leaning memorial is not necessarily unsafe if it is secure but if you think a memorial is unsafe please contact the clerk immediately with details.

The New Cemetery

The New Cemetery is the one currently in use for burials, with graves and ashes plots. It is the northernmost area, without trees and with some open grass.

The grass around graves and ashes plots is cut or strimmed 12 times a year. Visitors should please be aware that if the grass is cut when it is damp, sometimes unavoidable, it will stick to the memorials for a while.

Under the Cemetery Rules pots and planters are not allowed but at the moment that rule is not strictly enforced. Visitors are asked to put plants on the bases of memorials as the grass cannot be cut as tidily around pots and that they should be made of a sturdy material that will withstand strimmer and weather damage.

The area of grass without graves is cut by Helmsley Town Council's grass cutting contractor twelve times a year.

The Old Cemetery

The management of the Old Cemetery is generally less intensive and benefits wildlife and biodiversity and gives much enjoyment to the many visitors. In spring there's lots of snowdrops, enough of a show to attract serious photographers. Owls and voles have been seen but it seems the latter do make the surface in the areas of long grass uneven.

A wide grass verge alongside the main path is kept short and grassy paths are maintained to walk through the cemetery to the Commonwealth Graves.

The northern area of the Old Cemetery, north of the tarmac path and south of the stone wall, is more intensively managed, with the grass cut at least 12 times a year for visitors to these graves which date from the 1950s.

The flowers and grasses are left to seed then cut at the end of the summer. Some areas of nettles are also allowed to grow.

The council has received advice on improving the biodiversity of the Old Cemetery and it now also has a legal duty under the Environment Act 2021 to do what it can to conserve and enhance biodiversity. In January 2024 the council decided that the areas not cut x12pa would be cut x1pa.

Old and New Cemetery Records

Helmsley Town Council has records from 1962 for the northern part of the Old Cemetery and all the records for the New Cemetery to date.

Ryedale Family History Group has published an excellent survey of the memorials for the Churchyard and the Cemetery available by download or CD - one version has illustrations. It is indexed and mapped.

The Old Cemetery has 9 graves maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who provide detailed information about each one.

Fees, Rules and policy documents and undertaker's form

Cemetery Records below.

Please note that these are not burial registers and that sometimes the date of burial is recorded rather than the date of death. The Helmsley Burial Register 1894 to 1971 is at North Yorkshire County Record Office. Helmsley's Church of All Saints has a Burial Register dating from 1971. Helmsley Town Council has a Burial Register which is in use for all Cemetery interments, start date 2009.

Grass cutting delayed in some areas summer 2024.

Some plants will be cut in late summer after they have flowered and seeded. This is to provide pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators and is one of the ways Helmsley Town Council can meet its biodiversity duties. Photo Old Cemetery May 2024.