Chickerell graveyard 'desecrated' by plants dumped on graves

St Mary's Church has undergone works to maintain the graveyard which includes cutting back some of the plants and trees to ensure the safety and upkeep of the garden.

However during this maintenance, workers have left piles of branches, brambles and leaves on top of a number of graves in the churchyard.

Some of the graves include those of young children who were laid to rest in the churchyard.

It is understood none of the graves were actually damaged, but the sight did upset a local resident.

Branches left piled on top of graves at St Mary's Churchyard in Chickerell (Image: Melanie Walters)

Melanie Walters said: "I live in Chickerell and I was walking through St Mary's Church graveyard as I do quite often.

"I was so dismayed to see that after they had chopped a lot of big branches down they dumped them all over graves and gravestones, leaning some not only against old leaning headstones but also on recent ones too.

"My partner did remove some of them from a recent grave as we both couldn't imagine being a relative of that person and coming to visit the grave to see that disrespect.

"It's a desecration of a grave and the lack of respect is hard to swallow.

"It is so disrespectful.

"I know it is not the church's fault."

Melanie's partner Tom helped remove some of the branches from the graves.

Tom is not religious unlike Melanie who is Catholic, however, Melanie said even Tom was "disgusted" by the sight of the plants left on top of the plots.

She said: "It is so upsetting to see, I think it is sacrilegious but even my partner couldn't stand to see it that way.

"I couldn't imagine being a family member seeing that, it would break my heart."

Plants were left on top of the graves of children who passed away at a young age (Image: Melanie Walters)

Reverend Jo Haine, Vicar of St Mary's Church Chickerell, said: "As a church we are committed to managing the churchyard well. We know that it is a special place for many people in our community.

"Over the past week, a working party has spent time tidying up the churchyard to ensure that it continues to be a respectful and special place for people.

"We are sorry if anyone has seen the churchyard in the middle of this work. We hope that people will be able to continue enjoying this special place."