Garden of Peace and Remembrance at St. Anne’s Cemetery

About this Sacred Place

St. Anne’s Parish is a 300 year old parish nestled in downtown Annapolis that holds inclusion, outreach, justice, and reconciliation as key values. The parish also operates St. Anne’s Cemetery, also a historic cemetery in downtown Annapolis. Part of the cemetery’s land runs adjacent to the College Creek watershed and a potential new City bike trail, making it an excellent place for a meditative space.

A key focus of the site was to honor those who are buried at the cemetery but whose graves are not marked or whose names are unknown. St. Anne’s Cemetery was deeply committed to continuing the cemetery’s tradition of inclusiveness in welcoming any community member to be buried in the cemetery regardless of their membership in the parish – encouraging use of the space by nearby neighbors as well as accessibility of their services by those at a variety of socioeconomic levels – especially knowing that the cemetery has not always felt welcoming to the surrounding neighborhoods.

Because of the historic nature of the site, care had to be taken when developing the Sacred Place to protect older graves along the site’s steep slope, as well as account for the proximity of the creek. The site also needed to integrate with the existing scatter garden and leave space for a planned columbarium that St. Anne’s is working on installing. The natural beauty of the site – tucked against a hillside and the creek shore – lent itself to a simple design. Brick columns mirroring those at the cemetery entrance frame the entry to the brick plaza. The plaza is surrounded by plantings; historic fence panels were carefully repurposed and restored by the contractor. A raised planter in the center draws the eye. Flowering trees ring the garden, bringing color and shade while also masking the traffic and noise of nearby Rowe Boulevard. A swath of native plants site sweeps along the hillside, melding with the existing scatter garden and the wild plants. When the columbarium is installed, it will be nestled between the native plants and the hill.

Design Team:

Joe Ignatius, Associate, Landscape Architect, Floura Teeter Landscape Architects

Zolna Russell, Principal, Floura Teeter Landscape Architects

Kaila Blevins, Landscape Designer, Floura Teeter Landscape Architects

Contractor:

Bay Ridge Lawn and Landscape

Steering Committee members consider initial design questions.

Children from the adjacent neighborhood drew their ideas for the space during a field trip to the site. These illustrations were displayed as a gallery during the first charrette.

The first charrette, a community dinner with a local band. You can see the drawings of the site done by the neighborhood children displayed in the background.

The second charrette was held after a church service.

The final concept reflects the desire of the St. Anne's community to have a simple design that blends into the surrounding nature.

The site before it was cleared by the dedicated Cemetery Stewards of some of the volunteer vegetation that had occupied it.

Construction has begun on the site!

And the completed site.

The site before it was cleared by the dedicated Cemetery Stewards of some of the volunteer vegetation that had occupied it.

After the site was cleared, access into the woodland behind the site is also much clearer now. The Firesouls plan to add a few more pathways here.

The completed site!