Since 2017, we’ve been committed to honouring and protecting the incredible history of Greenhill Gardens. What you see today is the result of years of thoughtful work, not just creating a beautiful new greenspace, but preserving the stories, names, and memories of those who were laid to rest here.
Our mission has always been clear: to create a sacred and welcoming place where the past is remembered and those who shaped this community are never forgotten.
Starting in 2019, we began the meticulous process of documenting the graveyard as it stood:
Commissioning a full photographic walkthrough and a 3D model to capture every detail of the site at that time.
Completing schematic architectural drawings (2020–2022) to carefully map every grave, plot, and headstone location.
Planning long-term connections between headstones’ original locations and their current placement within the sculptural habitat walls you see today.
This careful work revealed that over 4,000 individuals were buried here — far more than the original estimate of 2,500. Many were never marked with headstones, while others became unreadable over time.
Our goal is to ensure every possible name and story is honoured. This is an ongoing process, and we are still adding information as research continues. You will find steel remembrance plaques on our habitat walls. Now they welcome you and share the dream and shortly they will have all the names who have been laid to rest in this place engraved on them. This site only recognised just over 500 before this development and now it will remember all we have found.
Further down this page, you’ll find:
Excel Burial Database
Search for those buried here.
See whether they had a headstone, and where it is now located.
To contribute updates, evidence, or family history, please email:
📧 friends@matthewshouse.org.uk
2019 Walkthrough & 3D Model
A detailed snapshot of the site as it was before works began, created to preserve history for generations to come.
Site Mapping & Schematics
Architectural drawings showing original grave locations, headstone numbers, and their new placement in our habitat walls.
Step back in time and see Greenhill Gardens before the transformation:
Interactive Walkthrough (Pre-Works) – Take a virtual tour of the churchyard as it once was and search by exact location.
3D Site Model – View the entire site layout and its features in a detailed digital model.
To help you navigate, all headstones are numbered and colour-coded based on their original location:
| Zone | Colour | Original Area | Current Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Black | South Porch Area (untouched for heritage preservation) | Preserved as original |
| B | White | South Area (near High Street entrance) | Large Welcome Sign area |
| C | Red | South West Area | Memorial and maintenance area |
| D | Green | West Area | Seating and small shelter |
| E | Yellow | North West Area | Community gathering space |
| F | Blue | North Tower Area | Buddy Hut and Kennel space |
This page is a living record, a blend of history, archaeology, architecture, and community effort. Every name engraved, every headstone mapped, and every detail recorded reflects our dedication to those who came before us.
We welcome you to explore, contribute, and help us ensure that Greenhill Gardens remains a place of remembrance, beauty, and truth for generations to come.
We’ve created a detailed Excel document with every name we’ve recorded from Greenhill Gardens, spanning more than 4,000 burials since the late 1700s. This resource is designed to help families, historians, and visitors explore the history of this sacred site.
Once you download the spreadsheet:
Search for a name quickly:
Press Control + F (Windows) or Command + F (Mac) to open a search bar, then type the name or detail you’re looking for.
Sort the records:
Use the sort buttons at the top of each column to organise the list by:
Burial year
Burial date or month
Alphabetical order by name
Find burial locations:
If a person had a headstone, you’ll see a code like A25 in their row.
This code links to the schematic drawings and interactive walkthrough above, showing where they were originally laid to rest.
Locate their current memorial:
We’re working hard to connect each name with its current location in one of the nine headstone sculpture stacks.
As this is completed, the spreadsheet will show:
Which stack they are part of (e.g., Stack 4)
The row number (from bottom to top) where their headstone is now placed.
When no headstone details are listed:
Many of those buried here — over 3,600 people — had no surviving headstone or visible marker when we took responsibility for the grounds.
This is why we’ve created the engraved steel memorial plaques, listing all names we have found, so every person buried here is remembered and honoured.
More than 80% of those buried here were never marked with durable headstones, and many inscriptions have been lost over time through decay and damage. Where only fragments remain, we have published what is verifiable.
If you hold additional information or evidence, please get in touch. Substantiated updates will be added to future revisions, ensuring that these records remain as complete and accurate as possible.
Greenhill Gardens exists because of the dedication of so many people — from volunteers and staff at Matthew’s House, to skilled tradespeople, archivists, and community historians who have poured their time, expertise, and care into this project.
We are especially thankful to Swansea Archives, historians, and local contributors whose knowledge has helped us preserve and share the stories of those buried here. This work is a collective effort of love, respect, and remembrance.
We’d love to hear from you!
Photographs, certificates, family notes, and personal stories are invaluable in filling the gaps in Greenhill’s history.
Contact us: greenhillgardens@matthewshouse.org.uk
Matthew’s House is an award-winning community project, recognised with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and named one of the Big Issue Changemakers of 2025. We exist to bring hope and hospitality to those facing homelessness, mental health struggles, addiction, and isolation — creating a place where no one faces life alone.
