All Lyme residents and all former residents (those who have lived 10 years or more of adult residence in Lyme) are eligible for burial in the town-owned cemetery, Highland Cemetery, located on High Street adjacent to the Town Garage. Fee's are based on the lot size and type. All burials are under the auspices of the Sexton. The cemetery is open for burials from May first to November first and all gravesite decorations should be removed by November first.
Lyme has four old graveyards: Porter Cemetery on River Road, north of the North Thetford Rd; Gilbert Cemetery on River Road; Beale Cemetery on the Dorchester Road, and the Old Cemetery across from the Congregational Church. These old cemeteries are no longer used for burials but are still attractively maintained scenic spots offering interesting insight and connection with Lyme's past history and inhabitants.
Gilbert Cemetery, the first burying ground in Lyme, stands on high, wooded ground overlooking Grant Brook. The first burial, that of nine-year-old Elizabeth Sloan the daughter of one of Lyme's founding families, took place in 1766. Recent work has restored the old stones preserving important documentation of Lyme's early history.
The Old Cemetery is Lyme's second burying ground, It is located on the other side of Route 10 from the Congregational Church at the end of the Lyme Common, and the first burial dates to 1786. Lots are no longer available in this cemetery.
Porter Cemetery is located west of River Road, about a half-mile north of the junction with the North Thetford Road and sits on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River. It served as the burying ground for the local neighborhood during the nineteenth-century.
Beale Cemetery , located on Dorchester Road about two miles east of the junction with the Grafton Turnpike, served the small farming community in that eastern section of Lyme in the nineteenth century. It sits high on a bank on the north side of the road surrounded by a lovely old stonewall.
Highland Cemetery, Lyme's newest cemetery, was founded in 1919 and is located on High Street abutting the Town Garage. Burial lots are available to all Lyme residents and former residents, and applications for lots are available on-line, in the Selectmen's Office or from Town Sexton, Bill LaBombard.
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