RC sections of Philips Park Cemetery

[maquis]

Just wondering if anyone knows what state the RC section F is in at Philips Park Cemetery in Manchester?

 My 2x great grandfather Thomas Gaffney was buried there in January 1872, but I've read that a flood the following summer carried a lot of bodies from the RC sections away.  Was section F affected?  And are the gravestones visible or are they mostly below ground level now?  His grave number is F 459 - how likely is it that I will be able to find it?

Many thanks for any help
Maggie

[Cancan]

Hi,

Welcome to Rootshcat!!

I have attached some pics I took last year when visiting the Cemetery.
One pic is of the entrance to the RC section of the Cemetery. Another is taken from where I stood at section F, showing Sections G & H.
The gravestones are very sparse here, so I would say there is a good chance it is the part that was affected by the flood, as the River does wind round these sections. (shown of the other pic as the blue dash line at the bottom.) Stones tend to be near the path ways on these sections, and the back parts are just grass.  This pic shows roughly where your gravestone would have been situated.  I visited the Blackley Office and saw the plot plans for a couple or so Cemeteries when there earlier this year.

Cancan

[maquis]

That's brilliant, thank you Cancan!  And thanks for the welcome. 

Family legend has it that a stone was erected on the grave in 1907 by his son, so there is a possibility it may still be there. Sounds like I should contact Blackley before I plan any visit.

[Lexiebabe]

Hi there!

I live 2 mins away from this cemetery, it's technically inside a lovely park that all generations of our family has been brought up going to.

The section 'F' is against a boarder, not quite where the flooded section was; there are plenty of stones here; the 'upright' stones are still mostly standing, however, the flat stones are, in some parts, grown over (some are so grown over the grass is perfect!) - however, they are all still there, so even if it is grown over you could do a little bit of cleaning up and find it down there.

I'm currently searching myself in the cemetery for 5 generations back, and walk my dog regularly along the boundaries, so if you would like me to check in advance to save you a trip, i am more than happy to let you know if it's still standing/visible.

Hope this info is of some help to you

[maquis]

Lexiebabe, if it's no bother, that would be extremely helpful!   

Does the above photo with arrow pointing at likely site give you enough to go on?  If you could check and see if there are any standing stones (not flat) with "Thomas Gaffney/Gaffaney" on it, that would be fantastic.  I'm guessing that the original 1872 flat stone will be under grass by now.

[Cancan]

Hi Maquis,

I'm not sure there are lots in the Catholic Section F?, if you go on google maps and put in Phillips Park Cemetery,  there is the entrance to it on Riverpark Rd,  Entrance is Bank St, (go left for Catholic) you will see on the map a large circular area(which was where the Catholic Chapel stood.) Area F area is below this and it seems mainly grass.  Last year when we visited we prodded the ground in section E and found no stones below the soil.  But the few stones there were we were able to roughly work out where the stone would have been.  I think we looked a bit strange taking long strides on a grassed area

There are lots of stones in Cof Plot F and Non Con lot F

Hope you have good news!

Cancan

[Lexiebabe]

Hi,

I went to the cemetery today and got caught in an absolute downpour! - I have some good news and not so good -

I was unable to find the number or name on any headstone in section F (flat or stood) (not so good news)
However!
The flat stones i was able to clean off from the light overgrowth were fairly 'readable' to an extent - the stones that were completely overgrown (at least 4inches of soil & perfect grass over them) I obviously couldn't get to.

I was unable to scrape away too much because of the intense rain, it just turned to mud and got very slippy and awkward.

It does mean though that it is very likely the stone is there, under the grass by a few inches. Now i am unsure about 'clearing' etiquette in the cemetery, but the few times i've been and removed soil from around the edges, the caretakers have been more than helpful, so i assume were you to want to uncover the stones, they may be off assistance (or at least allow you to do so)

Also, I am told that any stone that was removed from the site is transcripted somewhere, but i'm currently looking up that information myself, so if i find out where, i'll pass it on.

Another point, is the only graves i saw today (and i covered the entire far section F,G,H) to have only one name on, were the commonwealth graves, so could it be possible he is buried with another person/family? - that may make it easier for me to spot (as not all stones are completely visible)

I took a few pictures of the general area so you can see where it would be & the condition of the partially covered stones - the grass is slightly different above the buried stones, so it's somewhat obvious where they are; i shall upload them this evening or tomorrow, as soon as i figure out how to

Sorry I couldn't bring you the good news you wanted but i hope this is a help

[Lexiebabe]

Having just checked the plot number I can see there are 7 others buried along with him, so as his name is not at the top of the stone, it is possible the partially covered stones could potentially belong to him (as a fair few only have the top 'remembrance' and first name visible)

When i pop back when the rain isn't so hard i'll have another look for you now i can see there are other names to look out for too

[maquis]

Cancan, I imagine wandering around the cemetery with a spike and spade might cause a few raised eyebrows 

Thanks so much Lexiebabe for taking a look, and I hope you don't catch the 'flu from the inclement weather.    Any news is a huge help!

Yes, the original 1872 flat stone I'm guessing would have the others inscribed on it.  Would they be in burial date order? The possible 1907 memorial erected by his son (if it actually exists!) would only have his name on it, as no other family members are buried there.  That's good to hear that there may be transcriptions of missing stones.

If you want any ancestors hunted down in Kent, let me know