Canterbury City Cemetery won Gold in the large cemetery class of the national Cemetery of the Year awards, plus best new entry, on its first try.

Canterbury City Cemetery has won two national awards in its first year in the Cemetery of the Year competition.

The city council, which owns and runs the cemetery off Westgate Court Avenue, says it won the 2026/27 Gold Award in the large cemetery category. It also took the Best New Entry award in the same category. The council announced both on 8 October in a news release.

How the awards work

The awards are now run by the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons (BRAMM). It took them over from the Memorial Awareness Board, which ran them for 20 years.

BRAMM’s entry pack for 2026, published in a Witney Town Council agenda, sets out the process:

  • entry was free and open to any cemetery or churchyard in Britain, from 31 March to 30 June 2026
  • entrants answered 50 yes or no questions, mostly about the facilities offered to bereaved families
  • the highest scorers in each category then sent three photographs, which earned extra marks for upkeep and appeal
  • there are three categories, and “large” means a burial ground with more than 10,000 graves
  • the winner of each category gets the Gold Award certificate and a granite plaque; runners-up get Silver
  • the Best New Entrant award goes to the highest-scoring new entry in each category

So the Gold Award is a judged place, not a pass mark. The council has not published Canterbury’s score, and BRAMM has not published a full results list that we could find.

What the council and BRAMM said

Cllr Mel Dawkins, the cabinet member for cemeteries, credited the council’s cemetery team, the grounds staff at Canenco and the volunteers of the Friends group.

“It is also a haven for biodiversity and we pay particular attention to the environmental benefits the cemetery provides for wildlife,” Cllr Dawkins said. “This awards success is your success too.”

Janet Walker of BRAMM said: “The team at Canterbury performed exceptionally throughout the extensive judging period, which is focused on industry standards, good practice and freedom of choice for the bereaved.”

The cemetery

The council describes it as a 12-acre site, which it manages day to day with its grounds maintenance company, Canenco. Canterbury Historical and Archaeological Society’s cemetery page records that:

  • it opened on 4 July 1877
  • its double chapel has a 110ft spire, designed by the city surveyor John Green Hall
  • the original 12 acres cost £9,000, and a further 8 acres were added in 1923
  • the novelist Joseph Conrad, who died in 1924, is buried there, under a grade II listed monument

The Canterbury Cemetery Friends group is an independent volunteer body set up to look after its heritage and wildlife. It ran guided walks there on Heritage Open Days in September.

What it means for you

  • Visiting: the council’s cemetery page says you can walk in through the front gate on Westgate Court Avenue or the rear entrance at any hour, every day. You cannot drive in at the front.
  • Parking: the car park is at the rear, off Cherry Drive. Its gates open at 8.30am and lock at 4.30pm in winter and 7.30pm in summer.
  • Finding a grave: the council publishes a plan of the cemetery as a PDF.
  • Getting involved: the Friends group takes volunteers, and the council’s cemetery page links to it.

The cemetery is one of three working cemeteries in the district, the council says.

Sources