Bedford house cemetery

Where Bedford House Cemetery now stands was once the site of a large country house. Originally called Kerskenhoven, by 1914 it was known as Rosendaal Castle. It was renamed by the English soldiers, who throughout the war called it either Bedford House or Woodcote House.

The castle was used as a medical aid post and as a brigade headquarters. In 1917 there were also pits for making charcoal. The men who died at the aid post were buried nearby and so the cemetery gradually grew. After the buildings had been obliterated by bombardment, this was the only function that remained.

The design of the cemetery is different from many others in the region. It was the work of Wilfred Clemenz Von Berg, who (in spite of his German sounding name) served as a captain in the British Rifle Brigade during the war. The ruins of the old castle's ice cellar were incorporated into the design and the use of Japanese Ginkgo biloba trees gave the cemetery a subtly different atmosphere.

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