SMIG

Seaford Town Cemetery

Notes on Cemetery Plans

Cemetery Plans and Plot Numbers
Lewes District Council (LDC) inherited from Seaford Urban District Council (SUDC) a set of burial registration records together with some partly hand-drawn plans of the cemetery. LDC are still using them, but do admit to frustration when having to use them! They kindly copied the burial plot register for us (excluding all personal details, next-of-kin, payments etc), so that SeaMIG could start by using the same layout plan.   Upon arriving and orienting ourselves it became clear that:
Numbering
  • Originally the Main Area was divided into Plots 1-1000 in Unconsecrated Ground (corresponding to Sections C and G), and Plots 1001-4000 (the remaining Sections).
  • A previous plan had given plot locations in sectors no longer on the latest plan, but which had not been updated in the SUDC register.
  • At one time sectors each had their own, probably somewhat informal, numbering series, which led to duplication. Register entries also contain Burial numbers, which can be ignored.
  • One might think that, having measured how many plots would fit into one of the laid-out blocks, it would make sense to start in the top right-hand corner and then number in sequence from right to left, or downwards. This didn't happen, and most blocks have a mix of directions within their own sequences. Hence the arrows on the Block Plans published here.
  • The numbering in E4 is evidence of a delay in opening the Northern Extension until the Main Area was full to bursting. The original policy for Seaford Cemetery was for all blocks to have open lawn between the access paths and the graves. Evidently a change of tactic resulted in a number of blocks having their free edges commandeered for use for burials. This partly explains the sometimes baffling numbering. It seems probable this was partly due to the imminent abolition of SUDC and its merger with the District Council in 1974.
  • SUDC evidently decided upon a plot numbering sequence starting at 1, increasing as time went by, and continuing from block to block. One might have expected adjacent blocks to continue the series, but they don't. The directions followed by the numbering in the Main Area ended up looking like this!
    Numbering sequence in Seaford Cemetery Main Area for Plots 1 to 4504.
  • Some 908 are 'missing', having never been allocated to a block. About another 100 were allocated but never used. The Sections start quite sensibly with 'A' nearest the entrance gate. But "plot 1", in Section C, is nowhere near it, so Block A1 begins with plot 2037.
Other idiosyncracies
  • The original registry entries were made using pen and ink. They were scanned and transcribed into digital form, but inevitably a number of spellings became corrupted into best guesses. A standard database search is therefore unreliable, and some clues are always helpful.
  • Date of death is no indication as to where a burial took place, at least in the Main Area. From the beginning, in 1897, families were able to select a site, quite possibly in the first decades by simply choosing on the spot, while there was still plenty of space from which to make a choice. Relative shortage of space meant that once the Northern Extension opened in the 1970s, options became more limited. Family relatives are still being buried in much older graves, so enquirers will often be answered more quickly if they know when the first family member died and his/her name.
  • The Register contains numerous entries for family members who do not appear in the memorial inscriptions, and are not included in the main names index. The names are listed separately. No doubt some had no surviving relatives to arrange for the extra lettering. In some cases newer monuments have been erected which bear no mention of those first buried in the plot, though they have the same family name. And the Council register occasionally omits the names of those who, according to the inscriptions, were later buried in a grave.
  • Initially plot numbers were often accompanied by a letter: A, B or C. These referred to the type of plot, not the location and should be ignored.
  • The SUDC register includes (in adition to duplications) a number of entries whose locations were not marked on their plans.
  • The SUDC overall site plans have been found to be inaccurate in places; minor adjustments have had to be made to Block Plans.
  • There are a number of recorded burials in plots which have memorials to quite different people. We can only record what the existing monuments have inscribed upon them, and must leave others to discover where such "missing" burials took place. To possibly help with this, we have included lists of those registered as having been interred, but whose plots have no memorial to read and record. Please see the Names Index.
The Eastern Extension
  • The Section letter sequence (ie J, K, L ...) was not continued when the Eastern Extension was opened by LDC. Eastern Sections restart from "A" with an "S-" prefix (S-A, S-B, S-L etc).
  • Lewes District Council does not use Section & Block divisions on plans displayed in the Cemetery, or indicate plot numbers. We hope our plans will prove more helpful.
We have had to adapt and clarify the original plans, opting to use full Section, Block and Plot numbers (eg: E4-3683 = Section E, Block 4, Plot 3683) to help identify grave locations, both for our own practical purposes and for anyone wishing to find specific plots. Section names (A to I in the Main Area and Northern Extension) are those last used by SUDC and continue in use by Lewes District Council. Most Sections contain natural divisions, which we have used as Block Numbers (1, 2, 3 etc), numbered in ascending order corresponding, as far as possible, to the overall numeric plot sequence (1 to 5281 in the Main Area and Northern Extension).
For further information about Seaford Cemetery contact Lewes District Council.
Plans and plot-maps have been re-created from originals kindly supplied by the Council.
Top Cemetery Plans © Seaford MI Group 2013-2020
Seaford Museum