1. This is the older of the two Cemeteries that we are officially visiting today. The Churchyard around St. Edmund’s Church will, of course, pre-date this Cemetery. Records indicate that King’s Walk Cemetery ceased to provide new burial plots in about 1900.

2. The naming of this Cemetery is presumed to come from the time when King Charles 1 apparently stayed in the Swan Hotel and took strolls along the track towards the rear of the hotel, leading up to the site of the Cemetery.

3. The main gates of the King’s Walk Cemetery are in need of renovation and the Burial Board, none of whom are iron workers, are searching for some recommendations on how best they can be maintained/repaired/rejuvenated. There is also the fear of what damage will happen to the pillars if the gates are moved/removed.

4. The two Mortuary Chapels in this Cemetery are both currently used as storage facilities for different organisations. The North Chapel, with the larger bell, was originally used as the Anglican Mortuary and the other, with the smaller bell, was the Non Conformist one. Along with the former Cemetery Keeper’s or Sexton’s House, currently with a private tenant, the three properties make what is thought to be a unique attractive trio of carrstone buildings.

5. Alongside the southern chapel one of the memorials has a very special link to Downham Market, being that to James Scott, the gentleman who provided Downham’s well known Town Clock.

6. Walking down the centre pathway of the Cemetery we can again see that there is a program of clearing throughout approximately a three-year cycle. This is, again, a way of keeping the site lines clear as well as allowing wildlife freedom to exist and giving family history researchers access to the memorials.

7. The fine cedar tree at the end of the walk looks out over the Howdale. An open play space owned and maintained by the Borough Council.

8. The large tree trunk in front of us on the Howdale is a memorial to a young local lad, Jono, who sadly drowned. This is a carved bench purchased by donations.

9. The Howdale and other areas to the west of our position are very sandy and some of them are pits where much of the local carrstone was quarried.

10. The walls surrounding the Cemeteries, as many walls in Downham Market, are built of carrstone. Whilst this stone is very attractive it requires regular maintenance as it is a form of sandstone. The walls around the Cemeteries are therefore checked and repaired on a very regular basis.

11. In the Cemetery side walls (north and south) can be seen numbers carved on stone shields – these are the markers for the rows of graves.