Coventry’s Shame!

"New" - Friends of London Road Cemetery

The shameful state of London Road Cemetery

It is interesting to note that the graves which I saw in the older part of the cemetery, many of which actually look unsafe, leaning at odd angles or collapsing into the graves have not even been looked at yet.

According to a Council safety review every gravestone is to be tested and many families will be charged £112 to make them safe. This involves laying the gravestones flat and as many graves have inscriptions on both sides it will mean the tragic loss of information for family research as well as loved ones memorial inscriptions being permanently hidden. There are about 50,000 plots at London Road so many bereaved families are left dealing with the added upset and extra expense that this has caused.

The council has written to the Grave Owners at their last known address only allowing one month to reply, but as some of the graves date from 1847 it seems unlikely they will have much luck. So when relations who no longer live locally visit they will doubly upset as it could look like damage caused by vandals.

The state of neglect in the old part of the cemetery is very apparent ivy covered graves may look attractive, but some stones are completely obscured who knows what damage the ivy has done to the already delicate stonework. Even the grave of James Starley is in need of repair. (James Starley (1831-1881) was an inventor and manufacturer often call the father of the modern bicycle. It was his inventions and improvements made bicycles practical and popular. Starley also invented they tricycle and improved the sewing machine.)

Anyone with relations buried at London Road will be please to know that work to fix “unsafe” memorials has for the moment been suspended. This is as a direct result of the many complaints from relations shocked to find gravestones covered in tape or even placed down flat on the ground. The council are at the moment drawing up their own set of guidelines which hopefully will stop the number of recent gravestones being deemed unsafe and many newly bereaved facing large stonemasons bills.

In a move that will please thousands of bereaved relatives the council are to adopt new procedures set out by the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management. This will mean a more rational approach will be taken in future and wholesale flattening of memorials will stop, a number of factors will now be considered such as the stability of the stone (if it moves when pushed) state of the ground and size of the memorial. They have pledged to keep relations informed but I feel that although writing to the last know address may work for recent memorials, to contact relations of some of the oldest burials it would be better to list the names in the Coventry local paper as well as making them available on the Councils own Website.

Monday 15th May 2005 Vandal’s damage Historic Cemetery

Vandals have caused thousands of pounds damage to the old part of London Road Cemetery. Nearly 30 graves were attacked some had bricks thrown at them while others were kicked over, flowers were removed and destroyed.

The police said that the vandals had been drinking on the steps of the nonconformist chapel and it was around this area that the damage started. Further damage was then caused as they headed towards Quarryfield Lane.

Tragically the graves affected are some of the oldest in the cemetery, this makes it unlikely that relatives will ever been found and the damage repaired. Anyone who thinks their relative’s graves may be affected can contact Canley Crematorium as they hold records of the vandalised graves, on 024 7629 4400 or 4401.

The History of London Road Cemetery Coventry

At the Cemetery's main entrance there is a Lodge and two chapels, Anglican and Non-Conformist possibly designed by George Stokes Son in Law of Sir Joseph Paxton. The small Jewish Chapel was a later addition. In the years that followed two extensions were added to the original cemetery; the first created in 1887, the second in 1929.

Tragic Fire at Non-Conformist Chapel

Lost the Gravestone of former Coventry Mayor

Thomas Luckman Mayor of Coventry 1782-83. Thomas married Mary Parry at Holy Trinity Coventry on the 7th May 1783 and he was buried on the 14th June 1784 in part of Holy Trinity’s graveyard that was once belonged to St Mary’s Priory and Coventry’s first Cathedral. His wife joined him on the 6th July 1813.

Over the following years their descendants have always known of the existence of the grave stone and when they heard of the excavations at St Mary’s that took place in 1999 they followed them with interest. Now it would appear that the gravestone has been lost even though it is of considerable weight and size. Many of the stones removed from the graveyard have since been moved to London Road Cemetery but unfortunately Mr & Mrs Luckman’s tribute was not one of them and no trace of it has been found.

Update August 2005

The gravestone of Thomas Luckman is still missing and the council have admitted they have no idea of its fate, although they have apologised for its loss. The Council also confessed that no records of the stone were kept so they have no way to trace it’s movements at the site or its removal. The Luckman families’ stone may not have been the only stone to go missing, but it seems that only the larger stones were affected, could they have been stolen? Perhaps skimmed to be used again by unscrupulous stone masons? If anyone should catch sight of this elusive stone I am sure Mr Luckman’s relations would be delighted.

Update October 2005