Concern over graveyard
AN ELDERLY woman fears she won’t be laid to rest with her husband as the graveyard has been sold. The gate has been locked while a sign reading “private” has been installed.
AN ELDERLY woman fears she won’t be laid to rest with her husband of 24 years because the graveyard has been sold to a developer.
Jennifer Thomas from Cefn Cribwr, Bridgend, had hoped that when she dies she would be buried with her husband David Thomas in a family plot at Siloam Chapel on Bedford Road.
But in November of last year the chapel and the adjoining land was sold to a private developer, who’s only legally required to open the graveyard to family and friends four days a year.
The main gate has since been locked with a heavy chain and three padlocks while a sign reading “private” has been installed. Residents now fear they won’t be able to visit the graves of friends and family on special occasions such as birthdays, or be buried with loved ones.
Mrs Thomas, 80, said: “I’m very disappointed. My husband David died 25 years ago and was buried with his parents and grandparents.
“It would mean a lot to me for my ashes to be put in the grave with him, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen now.
“I’m getting on. I turned 80 a few weeks ago and I had just always assumed I would join my husband.”
According to an estate agent brochure, the new owner is only obligated to allow family and friends to visit and lay flowers on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Palm Sunday and Christmas Eve.
However, they aren’t required to let relatives bury their family members in the graveyard.
Mrs Thomas, who has two children and seven grandchildren, continued: “I had no idea the graveyard had been locked until my two sons went to lay flowers on January 28. They had come down from Hereford and wanted to go and visit their father and grandfather.
“We didn’t have any notice, even though lots of people in the community have relatives and friends there.
“At the time I didn’t think it was permanent so I joked to my boys: ‘Oh just throw my ashes in with my parents in Cardiff’.
“But now it looks like that’s what will happen.”
Mrs Thomas said she’s frustrated that her children and grandchildren might not be able to lay flowers at the grave on her husband’s birthday – something they do every year.
She said: “David’s birthday is in May and I would take the grandchildren up there to put flowers down. It doesn’t seem fair that we’re only allowed to visit on certain days of the year. You expect to be able to go when you want to.”
Mrs Thomas isn’t the only local resident who’s disappointed with the possible restrictions.
John Briggs, 65, said he’s upset that he might only be able to visit his parents, who are buried at Siloam Chapel, on specific days of the year.
Mr Briggs, who works at Cefn Cribwr Primary School, said: “We knew the chapel had been sold last year, but we had no idea access to the graveyard could be restricted like this.
“My mother and father are both buried there. My father had been there for about 25 years and my mother 30. My brother Richard and I go down quite often to lay flowers, as do other relatives.
“We were able to visit whenever we wanted. Nobody was maintaining the land, so relatives would regularly go to tidy up the graves and lay flowers.
“Only being able to visit four days a year would be a big deal for us. It’s a very tight-knit community, most people have relatives or friends buried there.
“I think it’s shocking.”
The Glamorgan Gazette made several attempts to contact the chapel’s new owner, but has not received a reply.