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Saved by S5 Disused Burial Grounds Act 1884, or not?
Disused burial grounds both old and ancient frequently feature in Midsomer Murders . In real life, however, their reuse is an on-going concern in view of the growing shortage of burial space. On 30 April, The Guardian reports “ C of E intervenes in row over plan to build car park over graveyard”. The issue is not new, but it is necessary to unpick some of the journalese and identify the legal issues involved. A number of the issues raised in the Guardian article on the former Calderstones hospital in Lancashire echo those considered in I n re Radcliffe Infirmary Burial Ground [2011] PTSR 1508 , below.
Calderstones Hospital Cemetery
The (unsuccessful) listing application for Calderstones Hospital Cemetery gives some background information:
“In 1915 Queen Mary’s Military Hospital was opened. Thirty-three soldiers died at the hospital and were buried in an associated military cemetery to the north-east of the hospital buildings (a war memorial in the cemetery records their names). The hospital was subsequently known as Whalley Asylum and from 1929 it became Calderstones Hospital, a long-stay learning disability hospital. The hospital cemetery was laid out adjacent to the earlier military cemetery. Just under 1,000 individuals who lived in Calderstones were buried in the cemetery, with the last burial probably occurring in the early 1970s…
“…In 2008 the chapels were vandalised. A contemporary newspaper article (Lancashire Telegraph, 10 July 2008) reported that all the windows were smashed, doors were ripped off, ceilings pulled down, pews torn apart and a stone font toppled. A stone memorial at the bottom of the cemetery was also smashed.
“At the time of the application, [which was determined on 1 February 2018], the lych-gate and two mortuary chapels remain, and the applicant states that there are fragments of grave stones, though the majority appear to have been removed. New, wide access driveways with concrete kerbs have been partially constructed”.
The cemetery on the grounds of the former hospital has been derelict since it was sold by the NHS to a private developer for £5,000 in 2000. Approximately 500 […]