Work ongoing to preserve and improve the city’s historic cemeteries and their facilities

Across Milton, Kingston and Highland Road cemeteries, a range of improvements are in the process of being carried out by Portsmouth City Council, funded by extra income generated by the cemeteries team. This sits alongside the council’s wider work to reinvest income efficiently and protect important public spaces for the future.

At Milton Cemetery, the council is redecorating the public toilets and upgrading them with new hand dryers and improved internal fixtures, to make the facilities more reliable and comfortable for visitors.

It follows the dismantlement of the historic lodge at the cemetery, which has been empty for more than a decade, to create more burial space in the city after it was deemed to be unsafe.

Watch the video embedded in this story to see the earlier works

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Portsmouth City Council said that other improvements across all cemeteries include safer and more accessible paths, the installation of new benches offering more places to pause and reflect, and the replacement of ageing litter bins.

Further investment is being made to protect and restore the city’s historic cemetery chapels, including essential improvements to the West Chapel at Kingston Cemetery to make the Grade II listed building watertight and prevent further deterioration.

This work supports the council’s wider commitment to preserving the city’s cemetery heritage, recognising their importance as places of remembrance, biodiversity, local history and community value. It also builds on the repair work carried out to the Dissenter's Chapel at Highland Road Cemetery last year.

Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: “I'd like to thank the cemeteries team for their hard work, which has allowed this additional work to be carried out. These important green spaces offer the opportunity to reflect, to remember and provide habitats for the city's wildlife.

“The city has a duty to its heritage, one that the council takes seriously. Our heritage strategy builds on recent projects including the redevelopment of the D‑Day Story, the arrival of LCT 7074, the renovation of Victoria Park and the Hotwalls Studios project. In addition, we have recently invested in renovation projects at the Kings Theatre and Hilsea Lido, along with repairs at Fort Widley."