Genealogy Chat

In the St Leonard's Church crypt in Hythe, Kent there is a large collection of skulls and thigh bones dating back from hundreds of years ago.... No body is entirely sure of their origin. I always thought that any bones nowadays were dealt with very sensitively and were if necessary reburied with a vicar, or similar, present. I would have been shocked and upset, too Gwen. Gwyn

There is a very old graveyard in St Ives, Cornwall near where I live. It is on the seafront, on a steeply sloping hill. The granite wall regularly collapses and uncovers bones. These obviously have to be dealt with quickly and are usually reburied at the top of the hill, by local council workmen with the Vicar in attendance. It all seems to be done with great respect - but then these are men whose forebears are probably buried there. The perimeter wall contains skeletons of newborn babies (unbaptised...a concession by the Church long ago) and curiously....loads of cats!!!! Sorry if any finds this upsetting or offensive - I will delete if so. OC

sorry fro not replying sooner thanks for your comments unfortunately I do not feel any better about it but will have to get over it. Gwen

I think you'll find that the tradition of long-term holding of gravespace started in the 1800s - or thereabouts. Before that, it was the cusom to make more use of ossuaries - i.e the bones were (reverently) removed to more space-economical storage after a number of years had passed. If you do the arithmetic, you'll see that we do have to find some decent and respectful way of dealing with a real problem - it's not a housing shortage just for the living! Having said all that, the process you describe sounds insensitive, inappropriate, disrespectful. One can only hope that the report was under-researched and that it was not so badly done. Christine

Sad is not the right word my spouse's grandmother was put in Netherne Mental hospital in 1926 after having her 6th child in 1926 with post natal depression she died in there in 1936 some 10 years later My sister inlaw and my self tried to find the cemetry about a month ago we were told by Gleeson that has bought the site that we we were not in the right place and were told to go to Wallington , Coulsdon , the list is endless, We marched through fields and eventually found the cemetry with the aid of a nurse that worked their, a wrought iron gate with half of Netherne missing. and stinging nettles and brambles as high as me and I know I'm only 5' 2', What really gets me I have three children and have not suffered with this, but assume that you would not get locked up with this now Any way me armed with rake and my sister in law armed with hoe, there was no head stones that we could find apart from a 2m x 2m hexagon just inside the gatesmade of concrete with a few head stones laid in it!

It is a shame I think I will visit the cemetery when I go to Manor park as it is nearby will see for my self. The pictures of the cemetery looked very sad and un kept. I just did not realise they could sell off cemeterys. Gwen

Gwen The cemetery authority is required to post notices of its intention in the local newspapers and in the cemetery for some months before this can happen. Yes it is very distressing. It happened recently where I live, in a small Churchyard Burial ground, but the Vicar was present when the remains were reburied around the perimiter and said a few words. In this particular case, the graves were all over 100 years old and were not being tended by anyone. OC

Hi Gwen How awful, i didnt think they were allowed to do that either

I went on line to check the opening times of Manor park cemetery as I am going to visit a rellies grave. I noticed that it came up with lots of information about other cemeteries one that caught my eye was Woodgrange as my grandfather is buried there. So naturally I read the article wish I had not, apparently in 2000 part of the cemetery was sold and 14,000 human remains were removed by mechanical diggers placed in plastic bags and reburied in a different part of the cemetery without a reburial service. It was also said that human remains were left lying in the cemetery whilst the housing development went on and residence in the area all complained. I cannot believe that this was allowed to happen and just had to get this off my chest. I am very angry as I wonder if my grandfather was one of those poor souls. Gwen