Do gravestones get removed??

[niclou78]

At Christmas I went to visit my "Nanny" & Papa's" joint grave at Portsea Cemetery, Portsmouth Hampshire.  I admit it has been a few years since I last went, but was something I wanted to do.  I felt awful as I couldn't find it...I knew it was situated by a tree and a water tap, and after searching for 45mins (and feeling awful about walking around the headstones) I gave up. 

I returned today and was still unable to find it.   My "Nanny", Hilda Gladys Morgan, died in 1979, and my "Papa", James Morgan, in the early 80's.  They were buried in the same plot.  Do the Council remove headstones??  Just wondered if anyone could advise if it might have been removed, if so would the local council be able to advise/or keep a record as to why?

Many thanks for any help...Nic

[suey]

It's quite posible that the headstone has been moved.  Some cemetaries will take down stones that they deem to be dangerous.  I did hear of one council who removed older headstones to make mowing easier 

[copperbeech5]

Hi,

Welcome to Rootschat!

You can contact the cemetery through this email, and ask them direct.

cemeteries[-- at --]portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Best wishes,
Copperbeech5

Moderator Comment: e-mail edited, to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please replace [-- at --] with @

[Guy Etchells]

Sorry to drift the thread from the topic, but why feel dreadful walking around the headstones.

Headstones are erected for people to read and remember those who have gone before. They are not creepy or morbid as some think but a way of keeping the memory or indeed a spark of those buried alive.
Next time you visit a churchyard or cemetery please take time to read some of the stones and feel the love portrayed by those commemorating the departed.
Cheers
Guy

[IrishOrigins]

I've always loved wandering around old cemeteries, Guy, even before I was interested in family history.  The family (with one exception) usually looked askance and pretended they didn't know me!!

Never felt anything but deep interest in the glimpses they give into times gone by.  I've felt incredibly sad at times, particularly in war cemeteries, but never creepy.

The fact that so many of the old cemeteries are disappearing for reasons that can usually be put down to straight greed, really disturbs me.  So much information just being destroyed legally by councils and or churches - and yet we scream so loudly when "real" vandals do exactly the same thing.

Funny creatures, people.

Philippa

[cemetery friends]

Depends how long the Burial Rights last. If for example it was 25 years and the council wrote to the last known address of the BR owner and did not receive a reply then assuming there was vacant space the council may consider re leasing it to a new family. There should of course be a record of this event in the cemetery office.

However I know of a similar event to your's with no really satisfactory explanation. My friend visited a Portsmouth cemetery and her aunt's headstone was missing. She questioned this and it was suggested a batch had been moved to allow a mechanised mower to gain access. My friend checked some old broken stones placed on the perimeter but no result. She then arranged for a stonemason to put a new one to replace the original. As she lived 170 miles away she was unable to visit regularly but returned after about 2 years. The new stone was also missing and the cemetery office could offer no explanation. It was suggested that stones were being stolen by "cowboy" landscape contractors who laid stones of character in people's gardens but there was no evidence to support this theory.

[niclou78]

Thanks for the responses!

Guy, just wanted to say I felt awful about not being able to find my grandparents headstone...it made me feel "lost", I did read a lot of the headstones which were all very moving.

[toby webb]

I'm not suggesting that this is the case here but how about this mystery of a disappearing stone.
Richard Smith was buried at Blunsdon St. Andrew on 17 August 1767. Sir Thomas Phillipps in his Monumental Inscriptions of Wiltshire  records this particular memorial in 1822. However the ledger is now to be seen at the entrance to the church of Blunsdon St. Leonard a mile or two from its original home. How did that come about?
Toby.

[Lady vaako]

Unfortunately yes they do get removed 😭
A graveyard in Yorkshire that has a large amount of my direct family, removed the majority stating they were dangerous !!!
3000 graves on the church yard going back to 1630 and now only a few hundred remain.
I have photos of the graveyard full of beautiful stones but now its just a field inside the church yard wall. its breaks my heart.
Do the council smash them up and use them as aggregate etc