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.
The space had a great deal of potential to become a focal point for engaging the surrounding Clay Street neighborhood, fostering deeper connections between communities that have not historically had a great deal of interchange. 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.
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. Ideas for the space included columbarium niches; a meditative, meandering pathway; seating; and native planting.
