[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Mikejoed

I visited Christchurch Sunday morning gone. Whilst there I spoke at length with a former deacon who was most helpful.

It seems as part of the Church's new modern image they have made several changes in recent years. looking at some old photos inside the church I noticed that not only had they removed the gravestones they have also removed the memorial plaques that were on the walls inside the church.

Retlaw, I have the greatest respect for you but I do wish you wouldn't keep refuting my report on re-internments at Christchurch. I am only repeating what I have read in the attached newspaper clipping from the library. [Hope the upload shows I've never attempted this before].

Amongst the photos inside the church there was one that clearly showed headstones, some quite big, in the area where the childrens play ground is now. The former Deacon suggested the grave stones were laid flat and covered up with soil on the site. This doesn't satisfactorily explain what happened to the monuments, such as the huge one dedicated to Robert Hargreaves and referred to in R S Crossley's writings. I suggested they could have placed the headstones around the church walls so that anyone seeking information for their family tree could still see them. However, they were afraid they might fall over on someone and rather than respect the memory of those who had contributed to the upkeep of the church in past years by securing them to the walls they prefferred to just bury them. Utterly disgraceful. Without such people in the past there would be no Christchurch. Easy come, easy go I suppose for some.

Of course times move on Atarah and as the Deacon rightly corrected me 'The Church is there for God's glory as a place of worship to Him, not to man. That it is a church and not a museum'. However, people carrying out ancestry searches rely quite heavily on churches as places of accurate record keeping. In the case of Christchurch they will now have to hike to the records office of Lancashire County offices in preston.

The only evidence I found left to the Hargreaves family support of Christchurch is in one of the stain glass windows which was dedicated to the memory of Robert and Louise Hargreaves by their daughter louisa.

I'll perhaps find out where Rev Logan lives, Bob, and enquire with him as to the desecration of the graves at Christchurch.

When you started this thread, you made it appear as if it those reburials had hapened in the past few years, now the news cutting shows a date of 1874.
There is nothing in the Christ Church records to show any burials/reburials in the mid 1800's on any of the names mentioned, Grace, Arthur, Charles & Sarah Hargreaves. There is no mention of them in the burial book or the burial register.
As for the grave stones being laid flat and covered with grass, no way, I've lived across from the church for near 50 years, those stones, the supporting pillars etc were removed. As for asking Kevin Logan, the grave stones had gone long before he came to the church, George Storey the previous vicar would be the one to speak to.
Where your mysterious Hargreaves went to will have to remain a mystery, Have your asked yourself, why would they remove the remains of just 4 Hargreaves, & put one back, then move the 4 to Christ Church, they could have just reburied them at St James.
Retlaw