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A GRAVE ERRORBody has to be dug up and reburied after being put in wrong plot
Exclusive by Jo Gilbert
jo.gilbert@egcourier.co.uk
A BODY had to be dug up eight
months after it was buried, when
a family realised it had been put
in the wrong grave by mistake.
The Courier understands an
exhumation took place at
Danehill Burial Ground about
two weeks ago, after a coffin was
mistakenly laid to rest in a plot
owned by another family.
The blunder was, according to
one former councillor, only
discovered in January when the
owner of the reserved grave
visited the cemetery and realised
somebody else had been buried in
the plot they had bought.
It has taken until this month
for the body to be exhumed and
reburied.
Former Danehill parish
councillor Michael Wales is
angry the mistake was made.
He said: “The records clearly
showed that the plot had already
been bought, and there was also a
reserved sign next to the actual
grave.
“It’s disgusting. I know
personally that it has caused a
huge amount of distress to the
two families involved.”
After the body was exhumed, it
was then reburied at another plot
at the same cemetery which lies
next to All Saints Church, on
Church Lane.
The original grave is now
empty once again.
Mr Wales claims his wife,
former clerk Olwen Wales, was
blamed for the mistake – but that
it wasn’t her fault.
He said: “When this matter
came up, blame was put on my
wife. It has been suggested the
records were handed over wrong
(before the burial).
“But there was a burial
register, a plot register and a map
showing the layout of the graves,
which clearly marked that plot as
reserved.”
It is not clear who was to blame
for the go-ahead being given for
the body to be buried in the
reserved plot.
An outraged friend of the
family whose relative was buried
in the wrong grave, who asked
not to be named, also voiced her
anger and questioned how this
mistake could have happened.
She said: “Burying someone in
the wrong grave takes the biscuit.
There are two families very upset
here.
Complaints
“I’ve made numerous
complaints about the council but
nothing has been done.
“There is no regulatory body to
monitor [parish councils].”
Chairman of the parish council
Charles Critchley refused to
confirm or deny that the
exhumation had taken place.
He said: “This matter is very
personal to the family involved
and I don’t wish to comment
further than what is written in
the minutes of our council
meetings.”
Minutes from a parish council
meeting dated March 26 show
that Danehill Parish Council
adopted a new exhumation policy
in February 2015.
They also show that plans for
an exhumation were previously
discussed at a meeting on
February 5.
The Courier attempted to
contact every other member of
Danehill Parish Council,
including the clerk, but none of
them had responded as the
Courier went to press.
GRAVE MISTAKE: A body had
to be exhumed at Danehill
Cemetery after it was buried in
the wrong plot Photo by Kevin Shaw
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