ALMOST £10,000 is being spent on restoring a dilapidated Droitwich graveyard to its former glory.
St Mary’s, off Worcester Road, near to the Castle pub, had become so overgrown that the paths were unusable and mourners whose relatives were buried in the centre could not even get to the graves because of the height and thickness of the brambles.
That had led to complaints from both those visiting the graves and local residents.
The issue was also brought up at the annual Droitwich town meeting by Anne Gittins, who lives in Tagwell Road.
She said: “I visit the graveyard about once a month because that is where my parents are buried and it was really bad.
“It was the forgotten churchyard because all of the others have congregations going to them and the only ones who go to St Mary’s are those who have relatives buried there.
“But the last time I went there, things had started moving and it is a whole lot better.”
The 19th Century St Mary de Witton Chapel used to be situated in the centre of the churchyard but that was demolished back in 2012 because it had fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair.
The Team Rector for the Droitwich Churches, Rev Nigel Byard, said: “When I arrived here it was one of the main issues which people asked me about so we listened and are now getting something done.
“The situation had been caused by a lack of maintenance over a long period of time.
“A lot of it was overgrown and, judging by the amount of brambles, nothing had been done to maintain it for about ten to 15 years.”
Rev Byard enlisted the help of Kevin Hyett Funeral Support Services which specialises in cemetery and graveyard care.
Discussions took place between Rev Byard, Mr Hyett and a small team and then a few months ago work began on restoring the graveyard which has hundreds of people buried there.
“In a few months time it should be back to its best,” said Rev Byard.
And he added that once the work had been completed, the churchyard would be added to the regular maintenance schedule that covers the others, such as St Peters and St Nicholas.
Concerns have also been raised about the fact there is no access to a water supply.
That was turned off because at one stage taps were left on and water cascaded down onto the road.
But Rev Byard said discussions were ongoing with the local water supplier in a bid to resolve the situation.
