A BRIDGWATER cemetery will be a sea of poppies to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Poppy seeds were sown at the foot of every war memorial in the Wembdon Road Cemetery as a commemorative memorial stone was unveiled on Friday.

The memorial shows the cemetery’s original forgotten name – ‘The Bridgwater Cemetery’ – and the date when it was consecrated over 150 years ago.

Miles Peterson, chairman of The Friends of Wembdon Road Cemetery, said: “Thousands of people are buried in this green space but there was nothing until now to indicate this.

“The black marble stone now commemorates the people interred in the area and the forgotten folk of Bridgwater at last have a memorial to mark their last resting place.”

The Friends of Wembdon Road Cemetery have been working for over three years cutting back trees, brambles and grass that had taken over pathways and gravestones making it difficult for visitors to the cemetery to have access the graves.

Thanks to the group, many gravestones have been uncovered, cleaned, photographed and their inscriptions recorded and placed on the Friends website.

After viewing the website, people from all over the world have visited the cemetery to locate their Bridgwater ancestors.

The stone and poppy seeds have been donated by the Co-operative Funeralcare in St John Street in Bridgwater.

Geoff Parker, funeral home manager, said: “It is a great privilege to have been able to help the Friends of Wembdon Road Cemetery by providing two lasting commemorative stones that will help to mark the important and historical site and provide a lasting legacy for the whole community.”