I’VE NEVER BEEN SO ANGRY ... IT BREAKS MY HEART
CHURCH SORRY IT SOLD LAND WITHOUT KNOWING OF UNMARKED GRAVES... BUT IT’S DEVASTATED WOMAN WITH LOVED ONES BURIED THERE
A WOMAN has been angered after finding out a piece of land where she believes her loved one is buried, has been sold by the Church in Wales.
Esther Davies, 43, from Rhosybol on Anglesey, has called the action “unforgivable” and is demanding answers for herself, her family and the community.
Christ Church in Rhosybol was permanently closed in 1996. The Church in Wales sold it in 2019 and plans to convert the property were approved at the start of 2021.
However, this decision upset many in the community who feared the church, built in 1875, was too close to existing gravestones.
The church is now privately owned, but the surrounding land is still open for the public to visit family graves. There are worries though, that the plot of land sold with the church contained unmarked or unrecorded burials.
Recently, the community discovered parish records showed around 20 infants were buried in the last century without receiving gravestones. In response to these concerns, in September 2021, the Church in Wales said it was “committed to ensuring” that the surrounding land would remain as a “place of sanctity”,
The Church in Wales told BBC News Wales: “We have imposed restrictive covenants on the building and the land that has been sold and we will enforce these in the event of any breach in the future. We are concerned about claims made, since the sale, about possible unmarked or unrecorded burials in the area of the graveyard which has been sold. We are currently investigating the matter.”
But Aled Morris Jones, the local county councillor for Twrcelyn, found out later there were actually “numerous” unmarked graves on the land that was sold. Esther, whose family has deep roots in the village, said this news made her family feel “devastated”.
Now, the Church in Wales has admitted it is “extremely sorry” for selling the land with unmarked graves by mistake. They can’t take back the sale but they promise no one will build on the graves and people can visit them.
They’re even planning a new way to get to the graves on foot and want to put up a memorial.
Esther spoke of how important the village of Rhosybol is to her family, who have lived there for a long time.
She said: “I have both my grandmother and grandfather in that graveyard, I have my uncle, I have my great-grandmother, my great-uncle and this little baby there too”. She revealed that her late grandmother gave birth to twins - a girl and a boy - in December 1944. Sadly, the boy, named Richard Davies, died three weeks later.
Anglesey Archives’ burial record showed Richard’s funeral was held at Rhosybol graveyard on January 9, 1945, led by a Baptist minister. Another document shows how memorial stones were arranged in 1984, with each stone given a number linked to their family’s details.
Richard was buried in an unmarked grave, but Esther and her family think they know where it is and believe it’s on the land that was sold. Esther feels the Church in Wales didn’t do enough to protect the unmarked graves.
“There’s a few people in this community who have babies there,” she said. “And although circumstances were different for everyone, Richard was not an illegitimate child, he wasn’t forgotten, he has a record.”
She added: “This happened in 1945, there are just two generations between me and my grandparents, we aren’t talking centuries ago here. So what angers me the most is that the Church in Wales haven’t even tried to find out the details of these graves.”
“During my research in the archives, I found a plan for the church back in the 1980s - each stone got a number and each number could be found in an index which included names of the families of the loved ones that have been buried. Richard’s address matched that of my grandparents’ address. We have the same name - ‘Davies’ and we still live in Rhosybol - they could’ve easily paid us a visit and asked us ourselves.”
She added: “I’ve never been so angry in my life. It’s so upsetting. I think my grandfather was an individual who had a very strong faith. Records from the church showed my grandfather used to help keep the cemetery tidy for free. My grandfather died before I was born, so I never met him. But I think about how he must have felt, losing his son, and how conflicted he would’ve felt now - with his faith being so strong and keeping him going, and how much pain he would’ve gone through.”
“It breaks my heart, that’s what gets me the most, thinking about my grandparents. He didn’t ask for a penny for the work he did on the upkeep of the cemetery, and this is the thankyou he gets. They have sold his little baby.”
Councillor Aled Morris Jones and Esther Davies have been informed by the Church in Wales that a new path to the graveyard is being made for people and families to use. They also heard there might be a special place to remember the babies in the unmarked graves.
But Esther doesn’t want a special place to remember.
A SCHEME is being launched to help small construction firms tender for contracts in the area.
Housing group Adra has unveiled its latest initiative aimed at fostering growth and development within the local construction sector.
Named “Tendra,” the project has been supported by the ARFOR Challenge Fund, a joint venture by Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Anglesey Councils to explore solutions strengthening the relationship between the Welsh language and the economy. It is funded by Welsh
Government.
Recognising the challenges She said, “A memorial is not going to make this right. There are so many memorials put up for the wrong reasons and it makes it worse. I don’t want to see a memorial that is going to remind me of what they have done.”
People in the community are worried about what will happen next and talked about their worries at a meeting on March 13, with someone from the Church in Wales.
Cllr Jones says there are rules now for the land that was sold to keep it safe. He wants the Church in Wales to talk more with the families who are upset.
He said: “The situation is very upsetting and very unfortunate.
“There has to be further consultation in the area by the Church in Wales to try and find out if there’s a consensus or charity support to place a plaque to commemorate all these unmarked graves for all the families that have individuals buried in the graveyard.”
“The church should have never been sold considering it was encircled by graves. Unfortunately, we must deal with the situation as it is. I wish to thank certain individuals amongst the community that have tried to deal with this situation since it came to light.”
Esther said: “I haven’t slept due to this and my aunty, who lost her twin and was with him for nine months, is devastated.
“I think of all the times we’ve asked about this situation, and wonder if they knew exactly what had happened and sold the land. I have tried to keep
faced by small construction firms, particularly regarding administrative hurdles in the application processes, Tendra aims to break down these barriers. The projects wants to empower small businesses, helping them navigate paperwork and gain confidence to bid for work, including larger contracts through platforms like Sell2wales.
The recent launch event held by Tendra at Tŷ Gwyrddfai in Penygroes saw an impressive turnout of over 30 small business owners. Throughout 2024, Tendra will offer a series of free workshops tailored to the needs of small construction businesses. faith in all of this - mostly for my grandfather, I have tried. They had a duty of care for those babies and young children, and for us as the families. I want them accountable for what they’ve done.”
A spokesperson for Church in Wales said: “The Church in Wales is extremely sorry for the distress and anguish caused by the sale of Christ Church in the village of Rhosybol. We particularly regret that land was included in the sale which we later learnt contained unmarked graves. This was a mistake which has understandably been distressing for many people.”
“We have been unable to buy the land back but can offer assurances that all the cemetery, including the land which was sold, is under a strict covenant which prevents any development and which guarantees access to every part. We are in the process of constructing a second pedestrian access to the unmarked burial site, not to replace the existing entrance but to supplement it. This will enable people to visit the site whenever they wish.”
“We would also like to provide and erect a suitable memorial on the site of the unmarked graves.
“This proposal has been well received by the majority of those concerned and we are keen to gather the views and ideas of others in the community.
“Our senior clergy team in the Ministry Area is heavily involved and committed to ensure that whatever is done is carried out with sensitivity, respect and with local support.”
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