Safety of Gravestones in churchyard

 

 

The church congregation has funded the grass maintenance within the church grounds of Christ Church for many years. Within the grounds, there have been over 1400 burials or burials of ashes.
 

When someone is buried in the yard, the family of the deceased chooses a headstone in accordance with the current rules established when the churchyard was consecrated for this purpose.
 

The responsibility for subsequently maintaining the gravestone, and ensuring its safety, lies with the family of the deceased. For some of the older gravestones especially, it is unclear whether anyone is available to assume this responsibility. 
 

The church wants to ensure that the risk of someone being hurt by a falling gravestone is minimised. We therefore appeal to people who have loved ones buried in the churchyard to get in touch with the church to ensure that their headstone is not posing a risk of falling.

If people get in touch, we are happy to check the stone for them and report back.
 

If the church does not have any contact details relating to a stone, and the stone is considered to pose a risk of toppling, then a decision will need to be taken by the church council to lay the stone down to ensure that no-one gets hurt.

 

To get in touch about this, please email walshawchurch@gmail.com

 

March 2026