Police were called in after reports of a ‘senseless attack’ at St George’s church
Gravestones which were laid down at St George’s Church in Stalybridge(Image: https://www.facebook.com/stgeorgestalybridge/)
A council has apologised after its workers pushed over 25 gravestones for safety reasons without informing the church or bereaved families.
Rev Denise Owen initially blamed vandals and called police when she spotted many of the gravestones at St George’s Church in Stalybridge were laying down on the grass.
“This is a very sad post. Our churchyard has been vandalised – affecting 25 of the gravestones,” the church said in a post on its Facebook page shortly after the discovery on October 30, appealing for anyone with footage of the culprits to contact the police.
In a notice on its own web page, the church said: “We have unfortunately had a spate of vandalism in the churchyard, and some 25 memorial stones have been pushed over…. There seems to be no motive for this except perhaps a senseless and destructive celebration of Halloween. The matter has of course been reported to the police.”
It added that the graves ‘have been pushed over with significant force’.
But after a week of fretting about the ‘vandals’ the church discovered that it wasn’t the work of vandals but staff working for Tameside Council who, without alerting anyone at the church or any families, carried out a check and laid down the 25 gravestones on safety grounds.
Gravestones which were laid down at St George’s Church in Stalybridge(Image: https://www.facebook.com/stgeorgestalybridge/)
The council has now issued a public apology to Rev Owen, the church and affected families for failing to inform them of the work in advance of the inspection.
Most of the affected gravestones have now been righted and secured with temporary wooden stakes until work is undertaken to secure them permanently. The maintenance of graves is normally the responsibility of the grave owner, not the church or a local authority.
In an update on its Facebook page, the church stated: “We have now been informed of what has happened. It was in fact the bereavement services at Dukinfield crematorium. They carried out checks of local graveyards to check the stability of gravestones.
“They did this without our permission or knowledge. They did not advise the families and they did not advise the Vicar. They only telephoned Revd Denise because of the social media outrage. Whilst we are extremely relieved that this was not vandalism, we feel that the distress and anger should have been anticipated and the families should have been notified.
“We apologise for the distress this has caused to the families and local community.”
A Tameside Council spokesperson said: “The council manage eight cemeteries and a number of closed church yards across the borough. At the end of October, we attended St George’s Church in Stalybridge to conduct a churchyard inspection following the transfer of maintenance responsibilities to the local authority.
“During the inspection, a number of memorials were identified as unsafe. To ensure public safety, staff took immediate precautionary measures by carefully laying these memorials flat. A follow-up visit is planned to reinstate the memorials with temporary supports.
“It is standard practice for us to communicate with churches ahead of inspections, and we sincerely apologise to Reverend D. Owen, the church, and affected families for not providing prior notice on this occasion. We understand the distress this may have caused and have since been in contact with Reverend Owen.”
Gravestones which were laid down at St George’s Church in Stalybridge(Image: https://www.facebook.com/stgeorgestalybridge/)
Local independent councillor Steven Barton told the Manchester Evening News the council had been ‘insensitive’.
He said: “They were within their rights to do what they did for public safety. If a dog or a child was under one of those graves and it it fell, they’re going to be injured. They are very, very unstable. But they should have informed the vicarage and they should have informed the families. It was very insensitive.”
Rev Owen told the M.E.N: “It’s entirely understandable why they’ve done it. Of course everybody wants the church hard to be a safe place for visitors and we understand the head stones needed to be laid down if they were posing a threat or a risk. Unfortunately they didn’t give us any notice at all.
“We were in the dark for a week thinking it had been done maliciously. They have been very apologetic about it and said they will work with us in the future to make sure we know what’s happening.”