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First Parish Cemetery |
© Trustees Home |
Future In the fall of 2001, recognizing a future need for burial spaces, the Trustees commissioned the landscape architecture firm Richardson & Associates to develop plans for the first phase of cemetery expansion, a 2-1/2 acre parcel called the Upper Woodlands. The Upper Woodlands, to be constructed in 2004-5, features a central Memorial Garden with columbary walls of native granite, beautiful gardens and sculptural elements. Set into the natural landscape, the new area will adhere to the traditional character of the Cemetery, preserving the qualities of a beautiful park-like setting amidst a backdrop of mature trees, natural ledge outcroppings and old stone walls. More description follows the images below.
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The Upper Woodlands, snugged into a hillside, is "parklike" and designed in three sections:
a Memorial Garden at the center, and Inner, and Outer Cemeteries. The Entrance to the Upper Woodlands
expansion is near a mausoleum at the back of the existing cemetery.
Featured in the Memorial Garden is a central garden with seating, a pool with a "sculptural fountain," and "subtle herbaceous plantings," plus a columbary wall of native granite with two small, enclosed gardens nearby, each boasting raised pools and groundcover plantings - a place "reminiscent of bygone eras," and one "for remembrance and reflection amidst beauty." The appearance of the Inner Cemetery is described as surrounding the Memorial Garden to provide an idyllic open setting with wide grass lanes and expanses of lawn and blue sky punctuated by stately deciduous and evergreen trees. Burial plots are located adjacent to narrow grass lanes, many of which provide direct access to the central garden. Masses of flowering trees and shrubs create a beautiful focal point within the inner cemetery, while the gently curved perimeter road defines its outer boundary. The Outer Cemetery is situated along the outer edges of a two-lane, paved, perimeter road, which makes a loop out from and back to an entrance featuring stonework pillars and a wrought-iron gate. In the Outer Cemetery, "mature forest creates a serene backdrop and private setting for this burial area, which is highlighted by its tall trees, natural ledge outcroppings, old stone walls, and native understory vegetation." In total the Upper Woodlands provides a total of 1,207 "burial opportunities," including "commemorative opportunities" represented in the garden fountain, the garden fountain sculpture, and the gateway ironwork. There are 622 single burial plots, a variety of family plots (244 in all, in the outer and inner cemeteries, and in small and large configurations in the garden), plus 104 garden plots for cremains, and 256 columbaria wall niches, also for cremains. Please look at our "Information" page for plot details, or contact the Cemetery Superintendent for more information. |