Going to Great Britain? Make sure you stay here

October 14, 2021/Cemetery, Products/

The City of Sheffield is located north of London and not too far from both Manchester and Nottingham in Great Britain. Sheffield’s City Cemetery was built in 1836 in response to the overcrowding and poor conditions in Sheffield’s churches. Today, 87,000 souls rest eternally in the cemetery, but you can also spend a night there.

Cemeteries, in the age of cremation, are having trouble raising revenue and there have been all kinds of options including movie nights, historical tours, and even rental of unused land for solar power collection to remedy that situation. Sheffield City Cemetery has went one step farther, as you can read in this article from the United Kingdom’s Star. It has taken the old workers’ cottage and transformed it into a beautiful and historical rental unit through Airbnd.

Now known as the “Sexton’s Lodge”, the unit at one time housed up to 11 people such as gravediggers and stone masons. The Airbnd unit has been historically transformed with original pieces of furniture and 19th century antiques. The Sexton’s Lodge will be made available to those couples who use the cemetery’s Samuel Worth Chapel as well as other visitors.

The price for an overnight stay is currently pegged at about $140 in U.S. funds and Trustee Mick Claxton states that bookings are already “beyond their wildest dreams” according to the Star article. It has been available for bookings since October 3.

So, once the pandemic subsides. . .my guess is that this unit will be a “Must-stay” unit for those of us in the death care business who want that unique experience in lodging when visiting the UK.

Here is another article on the cemetery and its lodging component, complete with photos, from Yorkshire Live.

Here is the Airbnb website listing for the Sheffield Cemetery Sexton’s Lodge.

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