Spider Gates and Eliot Hill Burial Ground

El and I like to hike. While I was searching out and planning our excursion to the Quabbin Reservoir to see the "lost towns" I came across something interesting. In Leicester there is a cemetery in the middle of the forest. It actually lays in the watershed that provides water to Worcester. Everyone calls the cemetery Spider Gates, due to the awesome iron gates at the cemetery.

As I started to investigate Spider Gates I found out that just about everyone knows of this cemetery. Everyone knows about it because it has a reputation for being haunted, and other kinds of strange phenomenon. Apparently Spider Gates is the 8th gate to hell, someone hanged themselves from one of the trees, a particular grave will talk to you, and there are all kinds of strange noises that can be heard in the cemetery at night.

Well, none of these things seems to be correct, except for maybe the strange noises as there are cows not too far from here. In fact Spider Gates is a cemetery that is still active. It is a Quaker cemetery, and it's official name is "Worcester Friends Cemetery". The last burial that El and I could find at the cemetery took place in 2010, while the earliest took place in the 1750's. This particular cemetery seems very peaceful, and I for one can understand why someone would want to be interned there.

Check out some photos from Worcester Friends Cemetery:




Worcester Friends Cemetery got me curious as to what other interesting cemeteries are around. As I dug a little I found a small abandoned cemetery call Eliot Hill Burial Ground. Just like Spider Gates this cemetery is in the middle of the forest. To reach it, you literally have to walk through some one's back yard.

Eliot Hill Burial Ground is also located in Leicester. From what I could find this cemetery was old. It had about a half dozen or so Revolutionary War Veterans buried there. From what I could find online the cemetery was abandoned, or no longer used, sometime in the mid 1800's. However, when El and I visited, we saw two graves just to the right of the entrance that had burial dates in the 1950's.

Overall this cemetery is in disrepair. Many of the headstones are leaning, or have fallen. It was interesting to see this cemetery, as it obviously has a lot of history. It is too bad that no one took good care of it. Currently the town of Leicester is responsible for this cemetery.

Take a look at a few photos from Eliot Hill Burial Ground: