Heene Cemetery – west Worthing’s hidden graveyard

Heene Cemetery is a one-acre town-centre cemetery in west Worthing that was open for burials between 1873 and 1977. It is now classed as a ‘closed cemetery’ and is cared for by a local volunteer group, the Friends of Heene Cemetery, who also maintain this website.

Nearly two thousand citizens are buried in this cemetery, and a small group of Friends is researching their family history and documenting their stories on this website. Many of the buried were famous in their lifetime, but all the stories shape our social history. We invite you to view their biographies here.

The cemetery is also a designated Sussex Local Wildlife Site, a status originally identified (as a Site of Nature Conservation Importance) in 1992 because “it contains fragments of a much threatened habitat – the ‘old meadow’ community”. The Friends volunteer throughout the year to care for this space and explicitly encourage biodiversity.

A citizen-science project supported by a network of specialists is also documenting this rich biodiversity. Over 500 species have so far been identified – and (nearly all) photographed. They can all be viewed here.

These records of history, both social and natural, are updated on an ongoing basis, so repeat visits to this website will be worth your while.