Whether your needs are for a traditional burial or a cremation burial, Centerbrook Cemetery offers many options for selecting the right resting place for your family. We have years of experience answering the many questions that arise when planning and preparing, and are here to help guide you through the process.
Cremation Garden Niches
Centerbrook Cemetery is one of the only area cemeteries offering a variety of cremation burial options. Our Cremation Garden is home to a Columbarium, an above-ground stone structure with interior niches, adorned by an inscribed black granite plate. One or two cremation urns can be entombed in a niche.
Cremation Urn Vaults
If you prefer to bury a cremation urn in a grave, you may consider a cremation urn vault. Much like a burial vault, an urn vault is used to support the soil around the urn and ensure that the soil above and around the urn will not collapse. And since urns are relatively smaller than traditional caskets, you are able to bury multiple urns in one urn vault.
Cremation Burial Areas
You may also consider interring the cremation urn in a landscaped plot, near a bench, or other landscape elements. There are several choices within Centerbrook Cemetery’s Garden of Peace.
Family Burial Plots
Centerbrook Cemetery also offers traditional burial plots in various locations throughout the grounds. These resting places are suited for caskets, cremation urns of various sizes, or a combination of caskets and urns to accommodate your specific family needs. Our advisors are here to help guide you in making an informed decision that best addresses your individual concerns.
Memorial Trees
The entrance and roads throughout the property boast many mature shade trees as well as newly planted species. A variety of Memorial trees are available to anyone wishing to honor an individual or organization.
Centerbrook Cemetery was established in 1838 and has a long history of providing a nurturing, respectful, and compassionate environment. The accessible, five-acre property is located in Centerbrook village in the town of Essex and is open daily from sunrise to sunset. Surrounded by lush New England foliage, the grounds are carefully maintained during each season and managed by the Centerbrook Cemetery Association. This nonprofit organization is comprised of a team of local residents dedicated to making the process of selecting a final resting place as easy as possible.
Centerbrook Cemetery Board of Directors
Marie Negrelli, President
Gary Allen, Vice President
Diane Belval, Secretary
Isobel Allen, Treasurer
Russell Rankin, Superintendent
Tony Cutone
Karen Macdonald
Stacia Rice-Libby
Doreen Schwab
Craig Szymanski
Property History
Centerbrook Cemetary has two distinct entrances off Westbrook Road – the older, original entrance marked by a strikingly unique stone wall that was built by the Central Burying Ground of the Second Ecclesiastical Society in 1838. Behind this wall lie the original cemetery investors and their families, their resting places marked by simple stone tablets or more elaborate monuments. Many of the 54 original investors were prominent clergy and ivory entrepreneurs who located to the west end of Essex, where the town’s population and wealth were concentrated during the industrial revolution.
The original cemetery parcel was three quarters of an acre in size, and through land purchases over the years, now sits at five acres. The second, newer entrance is marked by a wrought iron fence, and just within, the flying of the American flag. A memorial to the VFW and the Fire Department is at its base, with ornamental plantings drawing attention to its significance during Memorial Day observations. The road has been lined with various kinds of shade trees which, as they mature, form a canopy. Many more trees have been planted throughout the grounds, with more to be planted as part of the long-range landscaping plan being implemented by today’s Board of Directors
Use the link below for an easy, online search of an individual grave location. The search is by first and/or last name with a full listing of all records matching that criteria provided.
HOURS:
Open every day from sunrise to sunset
CONTACT:
Phone: (860)388-7323
Email: centerbrookcemetery@gmail.com
Mail: P.O. Box 145, Centerbrook, CT, 06409
DIRECTIONS:
37 Westbrook Road, Centerbrook (Town of Essex, CT)