I happened to be walking home along Leeds Road in Shipley, just alongside the railway station, when I remembered someone once told me of a hidden graveyard on top of a knoll in that area. I had time to spare so I climbed up the slope and fought my way through the undergrowth to find it.
It was originally the churchyard of the Bethel Baptist Church, which was built in 1758 and rebuilt in 1837, then demolished in the 1970s. The graves mostly seem to date from the mid 1800s. Most of the headstones are damaged and the area is now completely wild and overgrown. Judging by the amount of litter and broken glass, it's used as a drinking den, but there were only squirrels playing around when I was there. About ten years ago one of the local councillors called for it to be tidied up and preserved but it looks as though that fell on deaf ears and nothing was done. A shame really, as it is part of the area's history and the remains interred there, many young children among them, surely deserve our respect.
I am sure that most of the people waiting on Shipley station's platform, just below the graveyard, have no idea what is right above their heads.
It ought to be preserved and restored.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love cemeteries...count me weird aleady. But since I do ancestry work on my thousands of known ancestors, I figure visiting someone else's is just part of life. Haven't been for a few years...but this isn't the right time here...too much overgrowth. Will do some wintertime visits this next year. I love that headstone with all the writing with the two trees on each side pushing into it. I wonder if they weren't planted by some loving descendant and have since taken over!
ReplyDeleteThat is sad to see such neglect.
ReplyDeleteI love old graveyards and visited quite a few on our trips to the UK. This one is especially evocative--thank you for the pictures,
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