• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

News of help in future to those seeking graves (for C of E)

mikejee

Super Moderator
Staff member
From the Top Dog Genealogical website

According to the Guardian newspaper:

Graves in 19,000 churchyards in England are to be digitally mapped in a seven-year project that will be a boon to people researching family history.

The Church of England is to launch a free website next year that will eventually list every grave memorial in every churchyard in the country.

The ancient church of St Bega on the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria is the first churchyard to be scanned by surveyors using sophisticated laser equipment.
“This impressive national project will make a huge difference to those researching family history, as well as easing the administrative burden on parishes,” said Andrew Rumsey, the C of E’s lead bishop for church buildings.

“It will improve management of burial grounds, and make information more fully accessible than ever before.

“It will soon be possible to visit almost any Anglican burial ground in the country and see in real time the location of burial plots. For those researching at distance in the UK or overseas, the digital records will place detailed information from churchyards at their fingertips.”

The new free web-based record system is due to launch next spring, with the option to subscribe to additional services.

Funding for the programme has come from Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Caring for God’s Acre, a charity which helps care for burial grounds, and genealogy research websites.
 
thanks mike sounds great on paper and could be very useful although not quite sure how it works..have i got this right that its only to list headstones that are still standing

lyn
 
Sounds a wonderful idea. I wonder if it will it be a bit like exploring on Google Maps. I miss visiting graveyards as we are not-so-able anymore. Yes I know it's an unusual hobby, my step-daughter commented once that most people take their grandchildren to the park not a graveyard!
rosie.
 
You can get a taster as 2 church yards have been done. If you hover over the rectangles the details show up. There is a drop down key for the shading - top right where it says legend)
This is All Hallows in Kirkburton in west Yorkshire
This is Emmanuel Church in Shelley also in west Yorkshire.

Just discovered there are photos as well - click on grave and a drop down box appears on top right with an option to click on photo.
 
Last edited:
This is exciting as I’ve been searching the graveyard at St Peters Netherton and as it so overgrown couldn’t find the grave. It was like a jungle and we tried our best to ask the church had records but never heard back.
Thankfully about a month later we went back and all the long grasses had been cut back by volunteers so that’s great. But why are the Councils not maintaining the grounds. It’s so sad to see the decay of these places especially when people want to visit to pay respects.
but if it was digital I could find all my ancestors graves for my family tree and not leave the house. And if photos as well this perfect.
 
Church grounds are supposed to be maintained by the churches not the council, I think. Not sure what happens when a church is closed. That is probably the problem.
I have no idea how long it will take before they complete the project (I think Mike's article said 5 years) and they seem to have started in the north. May be a while before they get to our neck of the woods.
 
I think that link only searches council run cemeteries and crematoria. It does not include their church burial records.
 
I'm sure you are right, when I searched St Barnabas (Erdington's) burial records I did it in the 90s in the archive section of the previous central library. It says the following on the web-site:

"The list of Parish Registers held by the Library of Birmingham indicates which churches had burials and the covering dates for the registers held here. If a church still has a graveyard in use, but the registers have not been deposited here, you will need to contact the church directly and enquire about access."
 
Mikegee: that's really interesting to know. As touched on there are a number of search possibilities. For C of E first step contact the church via their website - they are usually very helpful. This is for recent records - older burial records will probably be, as mentioned, in Library of Birmingham - don't forget you need to book a visit for Archives Dept. "Find a Grave" can be checked for free and there are others on line - none are very comprehensive.

To clarify about responsibility for maintenance of "church grounds": the grave itself is the responsibility of the grave owner, the surrounding area is the responsibility of the church if it is an open grave yard. Once it is declared "closed" the church will apply to the local authority to take over responsibility for it [they have to] and that is one of the reasons so many of them are neglected. This of course only applies to the burial part of the church yard.

PS if anyone wants me to check records for St Marys Church, Moseley - can do.
 
The central library also keep burial records (I've visited and used their archive book entries in the distant past) and a search can also now be done on their web-site link below, I understand (although I have not tried that myself):

Gave this link a try, basic info was not helpful, but crossing their palm with silver(£10) brought forth a lot of information. Grave location, vicar who performed ceremony, place of death.
 
I spent a few months earlier on this year helping to digitise the key hill and Warstone lane graves for this project. The digital map that is produced picks up about 90% of the actual headstones, and volunteers add the rest. It only has Graves where gravestones still remain, and volunteers at the moment are taking and adding photos of each grave, and then transcribing the inscriptions onto the website. I found lots of bugs on their website when inputting the records, some are being resolved, but some won't be, which is annoying. It will be a good website but for those who aren't computer savvy it will be difficult to use, and it does not record graves where there are no headstone. The people who are involved in the editing and uploading of each photo can add a grave site, but I'm not sure that can be done after the website is launched.
 
I spent a few months earlier on this year helping to digitise the key hill and Warstone lane graves for this project. The digital map that is produced picks up about 90% of the actual headstones, and volunteers add the rest. It only has Graves where gravestones still remain, and volunteers at the moment are taking and adding photos of each grave, and then transcribing the inscriptions onto the website. I found lots of bugs on their website when inputting the records, some are being resolved, but some won't be, which is annoying. It will be a good website but for those who aren't computer savvy it will be difficult to use, and it does not record graves where there are no headstone. The people who are involved in the editing and uploading of each photo can add a grave site, but I'm not sure that can be done after the website is launched.
Sounds really interesting. Has it gone live yet as I was unable to find it online? Have you got a web site address?

Many thanks.
 
I heard it will go live next spring. Unfortunately you need an authorized user name and login to use the website at the moment, but most of the graveyards have not been photographed yet. I doubt it will be ready to go live then so it may be delayed.
 
I have been trying to find out how this project is progressing but I'm going round in circles!
rosie.
 
I can't fnd an update since last year. Looks as if it still hasn.t gone live.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top