Petition updateSAVE SARAH CHAPMAN'S GRAVE, A LEADER OF THE 1888 MATCHGIRLS STRIKE & TRADE UNION HEROINETwo steps forward and one step back with Manor Park Cemetery

Samantha JohnsonSouthampton, ENG, United Kingdom
Feb 7, 2018
We have been in regular liaison with Manor Park Cemetery and, while things have moved on from being offered a plaque to Sarah elsewhere in the Cemetery grounds, we still have a way to go yet.
Key positive events to date:
1. We are permitted to register Sarah's name in the Cemetery Chapel's Book of Remembrance
2. We are permitted to erect a 2 foot high headstone on the current grave
3. We have spoken with a stonemason who is very engaged and willing to help us
4. We have identified a surveyor who would be able to record the location of the grave for us to a high degree of accuracy, prior to the mounding process
The challenges that remain:
1. The Cemetery will not allow us to define the pre-mounded grave with kerbstones
2. The path to the grave is currently uneven and hazardous. We have offered to pay for levelling the existing grass pathway to allow visitors safe access. The Cemetery have not answered our request
3. The Cemetery still insist that mounding will take place, although timescales are now 5, 10 years or more, which makes securing a lasting memorial to Sarah very difficult
4. We have concerns over the exact process of mounding and the impact it may have on existing remains. The Cemetery insists remains are not disturbed and state, "there is nothing left anyway" (expert opinion refutes this). The Cemetery consistently refuse to answer our simple questions about mounding:
- what happens to old unclaimed headstones and memorials?
- how much earth is put on top of the graves?
- how long is the earth left to settle?
- how deep do they dig after the earth has settled?
This is in marked contrast to other cemeteries where gravestones are reversed and re-used. Also, LEDNet Guidance, which dictates that the exact location of old graves should be recorded, is not a practice that Manor Park conforms to.
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