PARISH councillors in an Exmoor village are urgently looking at how to correct safety work in a cemetery after complaints from a grieving family that it had been left looking as if a hurricane had swept across it.

More than 120 headstones and memorials in the cemetery in Hawkcombe on the edge of Porlock have been flattened by contractors asked by the council to identify gravestones which were unstable and in danger of falling over.

The council commissioned the work on Government advice after a child was killed earlier this year by a falling memorial in a cemetery elsewhere in England.

But, Porlock businessman Richard Growden, who only a month ago buried his mother Melody Keeling, who died aged 92 years, said: “The graveyard looks an absolute disgrace.

“A lot of people in the village are very, very upset about it.

“The feeling of the people in the village is of absolute disgust and dismay.

“Last Thursday I went up to the graveyard to visit my mother’s grave and it looked like it had been completely vandalised, the whole area.

Porlock businessman Richard Growden with the wooden cross on his mother's grave. PHOTO: George Ody.
Porlock businessman Richard Growden with the wooden cross on his mother's grave. PHOTO: George Ody. (George Ody)

“I tidied some of the graves myself because I was so shocked to see pots and flowers pushed aside so gravestones could be moved.

“My poor mother would have been absolutely beside herself if she had seen the nothing short of vandalised headstones around her grave.

“These people have decimated, vandalised, and ruined our cemetery and do not give a damn about people who have to grieve.”

Mr Growden, whose brother Philip is also buried in the cemetery, said he had placed a small wooden cross on his mother’s grave because a headstone could not be installed for a year to allow the ground to settle.

Richard Growden is surrounded by flattened gravestones in Porlock Cemetery. PHOTO: George Ody.
Richard Growden is surrounded by flattened gravestones in Porlock Cemetery. PHOTO: George Ody. (George Ody)

He said: “Even my mother’s wooden cross had been taken down and laid on the grave and as a family we have had to put it back up.

“We are still grieving and then to see something like that in the graveyard.”

Mr Growden said he accepted safety work had to be carried out but he was aware that in other cemeteries, including Porlock’s St Dubricius Church, at risk headstones were clearly marked and notices put on gateways to advise visitors of the potential hazards.

He felt the contractors had been insensitive in their approach to the work and lacked compassion for the families of the deceased.

One of the memorial crosses in Porlock Cemetery tipped over for safety reasons by contractors. PHOTO: George Ody.
One of the memorial crosses in Porlock Cemetery tipped over for safety reasons by contractors. PHOTO: George Ody. (George Ody)

Parish council chairman Cllr Duncan McCanlis told the Free Press an urgent meeting was being arranged with contractors Fine Memorials and Mr Growden to look at how the situation might be rectified.

Cllr McCanlis said residents were also welcome to attend the next parish council meeting when the issue would be discussed in the village hall at 7 pm on November 12.

He recognised that it was a ‘very emotive’ issue and the council could have communicated better with the community.

Cllr McCanlis said: “We have done the right thing, which is to get a professional assessment and we had the advice and took the advice.

“We are now in the situation we are in, the headstones are down on the ground and it is not an easy job putting them back up again.

Richard Growden with a flattened headstone on somebody's grave in Porlock Cemetery. PHOTO: George Ody.
Richard Growden with a flattened headstone on somebody's grave in Porlock Cemetery. PHOTO: George Ody. (George Ody)

“It is a very expensive job and we are looking into all the ways we can to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.”

Parish clerk Johnathan Jones recognised the cemetery, established in 1890, held ‘deep historical and emotional significance for the community’.

Mr Jones said: “It is a place where families come to remember and honour loved ones, and the council remains committed to preserving its dignity and accessibility for all.

“We understand how distressing it can be to see a loved one’s memorial altered.

“These measures are temporary and taken with great care.

Despite the grave appearing to be cared for, the headstone on this plot in Porlock Cemetery has been flattened. PHOTO: George Ody.
Despite the grave appearing to be cared for, the headstone on this plot in Porlock Cemetery has been flattened. PHOTO: George Ody. (George Ody)

“Our long-term plan includes restoring memorials in line with national guidance and with full sensitivity to families’ wishes.”

Mr Jones said for many of the plots involved a 75-year ‘exclusive right of burial period’ had expired and responsibility for their upkeep now rested with the parish council.

He said: “Efforts were made to contact plot owners and next of kin, but only four families could be identified from existing records.”

Mr Jones said the safety work was costing more than £20,000 with additional repairs needed to benches, pathways, steps, and handrails, and the parish was exploring funding options to try to avoid passing the cost on to council taxpayers.

The grave in Porlock Cemetery of Richard Growden's mother, marked by a wooden cross, is surrounded by burial plots with headstones which have been flattened. PHOTO: George Ody.
The grave in Porlock Cemetery of Richard Growden's mother, marked by a wooden cross, is surrounded by burial plots with headstones which have been flattened. PHOTO: George Ody. (George Ody)

A spokesperson for Fine Memorials told the Free Press: “We have done what we were commissioned to do by the council with regards to safety, because it was a safety hazard leaving them as they were.

“The council said they could not afford to pay for them to be erected to British standards and were looking to do it over four or five years.”