Churchyard upkeep

[Vasquez109]

I recently visited a churchyard for someone in Llangyfelach, Swansea and was amazed with what I saw. 'St. Teilo on the Clase' has a lot of old stones, some I think had late 1700's on them (from what I could see).

The path area and area within a few yards radius of the church was in relatively good order. Cut grass, tended graves.  A few short yards from this, was the area that would not have been out of place in the Brazilian Rainforest. Brambles, creeping ivy, waist high out of control grass filled with random objects from the baseball cap clad, yobs. Cider cans, broken glass, carrier bags and whatnot.

Is it the responsibility of the church to keep its grounds in order or is it the responsibility of the decendants of the deceased to keep their plots in relative order?

Another area was looking a bit like Stalingrad. Broken headstones, rusted iron outlines of coffins, broken crypts (Most likely been vandalised by yobs). The number of times I tripped over or stumbled trying to take photos of the graves was ridiculous.

What I say is, get these people on community service and other no-gooders of the community in there and clean it up! (Im not having an Ian Paisley style rant so dont worry!)

[Emjaybee]

As I child I often went with my Dad and the Churchwarden to mow the churchyard grass. All done without pay by volunteer church members.

[Cell]

Hi,
 Do you mean Ss David & Cyfelach ? Bit of a jungle isn't it ( it really is enter at your peril! .I would not like to walk around  the old part of the cemetery by myself).

I went around the old part of the cemetery Christmas before last trying to find  a grave  - my arms were covered in scratches ( ripping parts of brambles off some of the graves to take a look). No luck in finding my grave of course ( for the people who haven't been there -you ought to see the place, it really is over grown!! No chance in hell of finding a specific grave in the old part )

There's some really nice old gravestones covered up -  Some of the graves date back to the 1600's  . I think the earliest one I saw was very early 1700's
The tidy area ,closest to the church  tends to hold some of the more recent burials , so that area is kept in  good order.

My own thoughts about it ; The old gravestones and their markings  are protected from the harsh environment  behind the brambles so  they will be there for many more years to come , but saying that - it is a shame they can't be seen to be enjoyed by all. There really are some beautiful Gravestones covered up in there.
I don't think there is much they can do about the vandals/yobs except putting surveillance cameras in there at night , but I doubt the church would pay for that though .

I don't know  who's responsibility it is to keep the actual graves tidy, but I would have thought it is the family's responsibility and the grounds is the church's responsibility (?) . Many of the churches I have found it is volunteers who  tend to keep the graves tidy besides family members

Kind Regards

[Vasquez109]

Its called St. Teilo on the Clase in Llangyfelach. And I dont recommend going into certain areas of it unless you have life insurance!

[Cell]

Hi,
I call it by the name of  Ss David & Cyfelach .

same place though, it's a jungle !

http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/swanbrec/facts4.html
"Llangyfelach
Ss David & Cyfelach  (St Teilo-on-the-Clase)"

Kind Regards

Edited to add one of the photo's I took of the cemetery which will show what the overgrowth is like ( and this wasn't the worst  in there!).

[Vasquez109]

Do you happen to know what the earliest headstones that youve seen there are? And, dont they care about the other side of the grounds (not road side).

[maria68]

hi, i was in a grave yard on Tuesday, in Cefn Hengoed.  it was the same there too. the state of the place was a crying shame.  there were a few graves still tended by relatives but the rest of the place was a complete jungle.  so dangerous.  no paths as such, graves that had caved in, smashed head stones the full works.  the worst part was, around the back of the church is the infants grave yard, and that was no better.

the only thing good to report is that the two lads who were hanging about sitting on one of the tombs were really helpful.  they walked nearly every inch of the place to help me find the graves i wanted to photograph

[mike175]

I was interested in this thread as I'm planning to go exploring churchyards as soon as I can find the time. This link has some information on the subject:

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/churchcommissioners/pastoral/churchproperty/careofchurchyards.doc

Mike.

[Vasquez109]

That is quite interesting. This part in particular:-

"Individual tombstones remain primarily the responsibility of those who erected them and, after their death, of the heirs-at-law of those commemorated, but the PCC may be liable for injury caused by an unsafe tombstone."

What exactly can the church do with a broken tombstone? It does say try and contact a relative but how do you do that with ones that have been worn smooth?