I went in search of Thomas Cooper’s grave. Sadly the church yard at St Andrew’s church was remodelled some decades ago and the headstones were moved to the outer wall of the church yard and stacked around it. These stones have not been kept clear of ivy and moss and so many are completely unreadable.
The records I have found show that Cooper was buried at St Andrew’s as opposed to the cemetery, We spoke with one of the church staff who told us that there is no list of the headstones which remain in the church yard, which seems an awful shame. I am sure there must be one somewhere, but certainly not stored at the church.
This is a sad grave stone smothered in ivy and with some of the ivy actually growing into the stone it’s self. It appears to be the grave of a 12 year old as there is a date of 1876 and then underneath Died September 1888. It does seem very sad indeed that the headstones have been allowed to decay and be overrun by nature without keeping a record of who the stones belonged to.
Personally I think allowing nature to reclaim these headstones is fitting and a haven for wildlife but not when there is no record of who was actually buried there, or who these headstones mark.
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