Monument record MDO493 - Old Quaker Burial Ground, South Street, Bridport

The ‘old’ Quaker burial ground at Bridport was used between c.1696-1816. It lay on the east side of South Street between South Mill Lane and South Bridge. The cemetery was a rectangular plot surrounded by rubble stone walls. The graves were probably aligned N-S with the head to the south. The memorial stones had been cleared but the burials apparently remain in situ. In the south end of the eastern wall was the badly decayed remains of a stone inscription ‘FRIENDS BURIAL GROUND’, and a modern plaque is probably a reproduction of the original inscription: “1696 FRIENDS BURIAL GROUND Given by Daniel Taylor of Bridport He died and was buried in the ground 9th month 1714 Aged 73 years”.

The ‘old’ Quaker burial ground at Bridport was used between c.1696-1816. It lay on the east side of South Street between South Mill Lane and South Bridge. The cemetery was a rectangular plot, which, at the time of survey in 1994 by Gwynne Stock, formed the entrance to a Dorset County Council Transport and Engineering Department Depot. The boundary wall, where it survived, was mortar bonded rubble stone. There was a gap in the north wall, surmounted by a rustic right-angular stone arch, which had been infilled and was probably of 20th century date. The entrance off South Street had incurving walls ending in low stone piers. The central strip was under tarmac and the rest of the area was grassed.

The graves were probably aligned N-S with the head to the south, as suggested by a single base of a broken headstone. All the remaining memorial stones had been cleared. The burials apparently remain in situ. In the south end of the eastern wall was the badly decayed remains of a stone inscription ‘FRIENDS BURIAL GROUND’, the remaining part of the inscription was indecipherable. A modern plaque on a sloping brick plinth was set up in the SW corner. “1696 FRIENDS BURIAL GROUND Given by Daniel Taylor of Bridport He died and was buried in the ground 9th month 1714 Aged 73 years”. (1)

The walls of this burial ground are Grade II Listed.

<1> Stock, G, 1994, Six Quaker Burial Grounds in Dorset: A Brief Topographical Survey, 2 (Unpublished document). SWX8616.

Record last edited

Jan 7 2021 5:12PM