Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension
The communal cemetery extension, reached along a grassy path up steeply sloping ground, steps its grave rows across the hillside and focuses them on a War Stone aligned with the entrance and a Cross of Sacrifice on separate level terraces, all enclosed by alternating beech hedge, brick wall, and flanking pillar‑beeches.
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Description
The extension of the communal cemetery was started in May 1918, and graves from the battlefield and from other cemeteries were transferred to this ground after the war. In 1929 the British graves in the communal cemetery proper were also transferred to the extension. The cemetery extension lies on steeply sloping ground at the back of the communal cemetery and can be reached via a grassy path on the southeast side. The graves lie horizontally, so that the rows of headstones follow the gradient step by step. The War Stone and the Cross of Sacrifice are situated on horizontal plateaux that are in marked contrast to the slope of the ground. The War Stone is in line with the entrance, on the southeast side of the cemetery, and the headstones are oriented toward the War Stone. The beech hedge that sur- rounds the cemetery alternates with a brick wall behind the Cross of Sacrifice. Two pillar-shaped beeches flank the Cross. (Geurst, 2010, p.398)
Bibliography
Geurst, J. (2010) Cemeteries of the Great War by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
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