QUAKERS BURIAL GROUND, JOHN'S LANE, WATERFORD:
A BRIEF HISTORY
The legal agreement between the Waterford Quaker Trustees and the Corporation of 1952 required that “the place be kept in decent order and under supervision as an open space in perpetuity for the benefit of the City”
200 interments lie in this area from the 17th and 19th centuries, the remains of many who contributed greatly to the development of the city.
RECENT TO PRESENT POSITION
The site was disused until recently when it was used as a construction yard for the construction of a commercial building. Digging took place contrary to the codicil and a crane base erected and later removed.
The site, contrary to the agreement, is now used as a car park.
DESIGN APPROACH
The aim of the design was to provide a sense of place commensurate with a former burial ground, a place of quiet but of interest, a robust piece of city scape well constructed, a tribute to our forebears.
The nature of the site, restricted in width and with a 2 metre change of level requires a simple, and easy to maintain, hard landscaped solution with blue engineering brick and star rolled concrete.
The slope, existing house at No. 7, the fire escape route and vehicle access necessitated a change of level but without a disruptive retaining wall. The necessary steps then connect at an angle, to the slope of John’s Lane. A simple bench seat, granite top on brick base, faces south shaded by a flowering tree in a raised brick planter. An appropriate inscription is engraved into the bench seat.