Grieving husband wins headstone battle – two years after wife’s death

A HUSBAND has finally won his fight for a memorial stone on his wife’s grave after taking the case to an ecclesiastical court.

Lynn Wright died in August 2018 and was buried in the churchyard of All Saints, in Dilhorne.

The 64-year-old, from Cheadle, was described as a cherished mother, much loved grandmother and beloved wife.

But when her husband, Arthur, applied for permission to put up a polished red granite headstone with gold lettering, he was turned down.

The then vicar, the Rev Linda Lucking, claimed gold writing was not permissible and the size and colour of the memorial would not be in keeping with the churchyard’s other headstones.

Mr Wright petitioned the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Lichfield and has finally won his case – more than two years after his wife’s death.

In his ruling, Judge Stephen Eyre QC said it would be “artificial and unjust” to decline approval for the memorial as gold lettering was widespread among the other headstones at All Saints’ Church.

And while only a small number of headstones were of this colour, one of them was in memory of a relative and was on the plot next to Mrs Wright’s grave. Judge Eyre said: “In those circumstances, the use of polished red granite for this memorial will be neither unsightly nor jarring. It will be readily apparent that the memorial is of a different kind of stone from most of those in the churchyard, but it will not be the only memorial of such stone and will not cause the loss of an otherwise harmonious experience.”

The inscription will include

Mrs Wright’s age, reference to her roles as wife, mother and grandmother, and a statement that she is “resting in God’s care while being remembered with love in the hearts of her family”.

The judgement in the case reveals no representations were made by the Parochial Church Council and a new vicar is yet to take up the role.

Mr Wright made written submissions, which included photographs.

He pointed out that around 60 of the 73 memorials in the area near his wife’s final resting place had gold lettered inscriptions. The pictures also show a number of them ‘appear to bear coloured images of various kinds.’

The Diocesan Advisory Committee recommended approval of Mr Wright’s petition.

The then vicar claimed the size and colour of the memorial would not be in keeping with the churchyard’s other headstones.

Arthur Wright has finally the right to put up a polished red granite stone with gold lettering in memory of his wife, Lynn, who died in August 2018. She is buried at All Saints’ Church, in Dilhorne.