Friends of St Peter's, Great Berkhamsted

We are delighted to announce that the Seat of Remembrance, has been fully restored and and unveiled to the public.

The Seat of Remembrance was erected in 1934 by Lucy Anne Foot in Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted, in memory of her husband, Brigadier General Richard Mildmay Foot, a decorated World War I officer. In a tender tribute to his love of dogs, the seat’s arms were designed as a pair of Irish Setters sculpted in red Mansfield stone.

Over the years, the bench had fallen into terrible decay, but its charming story ignited the imagination of the people of Berkhamsted. With the help of generous donations and money raised through Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme, the seat has been lovingly restored by skilled stonemason Sam Kelly. The stone dogs have had their missing noses replaced, a new teak seat has been put in place, and the surrounding paving has been re-laid.

The Seat of Remembrance was unveiled on Sunday 11th September 2016 at our special Heritage Open Day event by Professor Sarah Foot, great-granddaughter of Brigadier General Foot.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this project. This was the Friends’ first major project in our plan to restore the Cemetery as a community space. Remember that the Friends have many ongoing projects like the Seat of Remembrance – do please support the continuing work to restore Berkhamsted’s heritage and donate to the Friends.

Photos of the Seat

Photos of the Restoration Project