Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Can anyone tell me after how many years can a headstone be removed and the grave used again, i thought it was 100 years, is this right!
Thankyou

It's a question that I suspect you will need to ask the officials at the cemetery in question, different places may have different rules, however, if the ownership of the grave is known and the deeds in the possession of the person who wishes to use it, then I would have thought that so long as the next burial didn't exceed the number allowed in the grave - and I believe they aren't always the same - then it should be able to be used.

Thankyou Mary, dont much like the idea of someones headstone being removed and then used for someone else like the 1st person never existed, but thats life i guess.

There's two different subjects here that have got mixed up. One is the removal of headstones from churchyards (sometimes including the removal of those buried in the graves). The other is the reuse of a private grave by the family/grave owners after a long period of time since the last burial.


Blue

Sorry, i should have made myself more clearer. I was meaning the removal of headstones so the grave can be used again when space is limited but by none family members.

My answer was more in response to the grave being reused, which it obviously could be quite legitimately by somebody who is connected to the family, if the deeds are held. I suspect it unlikely if there is a headstone that the grave would be reused for somebody else.

Do you know for sure that there was a headstone?

As I understand it, the standard legal position is that the grave is owned for 100 years. However, the ownership of a grave remains with the original purchaser and is not automatically transferred when they die, so establishing ownership of very old graves can be tricky.

A few years ago, the government tried to introduce legislation so that graves in London could be reused after 75 years but people didn't like that idea. At the moment it is 'under consideration'. Currently, in London, graves with spaces can be reused with the owners permission and London is under such pressure to find burial spaces that they send out letters seeing if the families of graves over 75 years old would mind somebody else being buried in it (they usually put the new name on the back of the old headstone or get a new double-sided one if it's not suitable for that) There was an interesting research project which found that about 50% of people thought reusing graves was ok with the families' permission (there's also an interesting book 'reusing old graves' about public perceptions of such things)

There have also been some 'reshuffling' of graves in London cemeteries, where the old remains have been exhumed and reinterred in large communal graves so their plots can be reused. I can only assume that these graves are all either over 100 years old or over 75 years with permission.

Basically, if the grave is less than 100 years old, they can't touch it without permission of the owner. If the family haven't transferred ownership and it's legally owned by a deceased person it gets more confused and can depend on the local burial authorities rules.

If we'd been invaded by Napoleon this wouldn't be a problem, much of Europe still follows Napoleonic law on this and graves are only owned for 20 years or so - think about the ossuary catacombs under Paris!

You need to ask the relevant cemetery or church. If you google something like ownership of burial space England you'll find lots of information.

Mary, i have no idea if there is/was ever a headstone as im still trying to find the exact plot, i am awaiting a reply from St Elphins Church and Warrington Library, so fingers crossed.
Alcavtay, thankyou for the info, very helpful. I would be horrified if mine or a relatives remains had been exhumed and reinterred in a large communal grave, i understand the problem with space but i think a persons remains should never be disturbed and im not religious in anyway. I will definately be interested in finding out more about this subject.
Thankyou Education officer i will definately be doing more research on this subject.

I don’t know if you have had a look at the satellite view of St Elphin’s church and churchyard on Google Earth or Maps, but if you have you will have seen that there only about 20 memorials there now, these appear to be large stone covered graves rather than headstones. The rest of the churchyard appears to be just grass, whether the graves are still there but with the headstones removed I don’t know.

Looking at an 1849 map of Warrington, the churchyard at that time looks to be covering the same area as it is today.

Thankyou Tex T, i have had a look and have found out that the church yard closed and they relocated many of the graves to the cemetery.