The cemetery was created at the very start of the 19th century to accommodate the increased population caused by the building of the barracks. The barracks were laid out in 1798 and between 1804 and 1814 the infantry of the King’s German Legion were stationed there.
In 1901 the current cemetery at Clinch Green was opened.
The old cemetery was taken over by the Bexhill Corporation, cleared and turned into a garden of rest in 1965. The surviving gravestones were then moved to line the walls
Barrack Road cemetery gates 1940During World War II, because of a possible shortage of iron and steel for munitions purposes, many sets of iron railings in Britain were removed from homes, gardens, parks, in fact, anywhere.
These Railings were usually cut off at the base and the stubs may still be seen outside many buildings in London and elsewhere where they have never been replaced. Because of a poor records, there is some scepticism as to whether they were actually used for this purpose of more for the purpose of propaganda – of creating a feeling that we were all ‘doing our bit’.
Bexhill was hit by many bombs, in WW2, and one, dropped in 1941, hit the cemetery and destroyed many of the graves. The photograph on the left shows two men examining the damage.
The old cemetery was, later, taken over by the Bexhill Corporation, who cleared and turned it into a garden of res,t in 1965. The surviving gravestones were then moved to line the walls.