Funeral and Cemetery

Sacred Heart Cemetery is owned and operated by Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. The cemetery is available to baptized Catholics. Priority is given to Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church parishioners. Please call the rectory (540-662-5858) for more details.

About Sacred Heart Cemetery:

When Frederick County was formed in 1738, there were Roman Catholics living there. The old stone church was described by historian Morton as “an old building of rougb appearance built in 1805.” It stood upon a slight eminence at the northern end of Church Street. now East Lane Street. Being the only place of Catholic worship in the city, it ministered to the needs of the Catholics of Winchester at infrequent intervals until about 1840.

The War Between the States brought about the destruction of the old church as Federal troops commandeered it for use as an arsenal and stable. The church was eventually burned and the gravestones in the old cemetery were defaced.

The Roman Catholics of the Shenandoah Valley got together and used the grey stone from the old church for the basement of the new church on South Loudoun Street. Mass was celebrated there for several years until Sacred Heart Church was built over the stone basement and dedicated on July 28, 1878.

The early history of the parish ends with the establishment of the new cemetery in the year 1884 by Father John B O’Reilly. The deed for the ground was obtained January 5, 1884, and recorded in the Corporation Clerk’s office on the 13th of the same month.

The first interment in the new cemetery was that of Katie Keating on March 26, 1884. Late in 1890, the remains of many of those buried in the old cemetery were moved to the new plot. Many of these people had been instrumental in building the new church. It was their faith and teaching that had kept the spirit of Catholicism alive after their church had been destroyed.

The beautiful Loudoun Street Sacred Heart of Jesus church served the growing number of Catholics in the area until June 2, 1989, when Bishop John R Keating dedicated the new Sacred Heart Church on Amherst Street across from the Winchester Medical Center. On June 24, 1995, during the 125th Jubilee celebration of the parish, an altar was placed in the cemetery at a plot dedicated to the founders of Sacred Heart of Jesus parish and the priests who served the Catholics in Winchester.

The current Sacred Heart Cemetery is located on the south side of Cameron Street between Bond and Southwerk Streets. The property is completely fenced and maintained throughout the year.