New monument planned for Norwich Pioneer Cemetery

Luke Edwards, Post Contributor

The Norwich and District Historical Society has been given the green light to move a sign at the Norwich Pioneer Cemetery and replace it with a monument they say will be more appropriate.

Councillors approved the plan following a presentation from the historical society’s curator Matthew Lloyd at the March 10 meeting. The monument will act as a map of sorts showing the burial sites for those interred in the cemetery. Given its age, many of the grave stones are no longer legible, making it difficult for descendants or members of the public to determine who’s buried where.

A sign that’s currently up at the cemetery and highlights some of the families who were the first settlers in Norwich, will be moved to the museum. The sign was installed in the 1960s and made sense at the time since Norwich didn’t have a museum then.

“Now it confuses people because it doesn’t relate to who’s actually buried there,” he said.

“The point of the monument would be to list everyone buried in the cemetery.”

The project will be entirely funded by the society through grants and donations, Lloyd said.