Dudley’s hidden graveyard

[BC Wench]

I’ve just been reading a very interesting article in the September issue of Family Tree magazine regarding death records, by a lady who wished she had visited graves earlier on in her family research. Part of the article is regarding gravestones in a public cemetery.

In a “nutshell” - If a burial is to take place, you have to buy a lease of 25, 30, 50 or 99 years for a grave, the cost varies from county to county. When the lease runs out it can be reclaimed by the local authority, but before this reclaiming, notices have to be put up in the cemetery with a letter being sent to the last known address for each grave affected, to ask if the family wanted to keep the burial plot. If the local authority doesn’t receive a reply, then the gravestone could be removed and destroyed.

Seeing as the Blowers Green Road cemetery was dedicated to Dudley Council in 1952 by the Bishop of Worcester, I wonder if the same thing applies with Church gravestones as it does to public cemeteries, once the local council takes over.

Luckily for this lady who wrote the article, she contacted the local authority about her concerns of the removal of the headstone she was looking for. A man from the local authority did some delving into the council files and found a photo of the gravestone for her, which was taken before the council removed the headstone.