'Have you no shame?' Shock at attempted theft of church paving stones

A woman has spoken of her ‘shock’ after discovering paving stones had been removed from a historic Darwen cemetery.

The cemetery yard at St James Church, Lower Darwen, is not used for burials anymore but is still frequented by family members who have relatives buried there.

Lynn Cooper-Kay said her grandparents were buried in the cemetery. Her grandad died in 1961 and her grandma passed away nine years later.

She said on a visit to the site recently the gate had been locked.

Once they gained entry, they spoke to church staff and were told the area had been secured due attempted thefts of the stones.

A visitor had spotted the stones propped against a wall after they had been removed from the ground.

The church had then contacted the council who had put the stones in a ‘safe place’ in case the thieves returned to pick them up.

Lynn said: “Have people no shame? This is a consecrated ground.

“It really is upsetting to see. A number of stones which probably date back to the 19th century have had to be removed from the cemetery.

“It shocking to see this.

“It appears who ever has done this has taken some and they had then piled some up and maybe were going to come back. This was only a few steps away from where my grandparents were buried.

“Do they not have any conscious whatsoever? They had also ripped out some old graveyard ornaments. The gravestones will be next.”

Where paving stones have been removed (Image: Nq/LT)

All the stones and the area has now been marked with SmartWater which can be seen under ultraviolet light. The area in around the cemetery also has CCTV cameras.

The church confirmed stones had been stolen from the site in the past.

The recent attempted thefts have been reported to the police said Rev Rebecca Roberts.

Rev Rebecca said: “As a church we are disappointed with what has happened. We have taken action to prevent this from happening again.”

Alan Kay said they had visited the cemetery as they were hoping to do some research over family history.

He said: “We don’t go very often but this was upsetting to see.

“We have been visiting the library and also the cemetery and have been researching into family heritage and history.”