Uplyme Parish Church wants villagers to take over responsibility for maintaining the burial area now that it is full
Residents at Uplyme may soon have to help pay for the upkeep of the village churchyard.
Now that all the graves are full, officials at St Peter and St Paul’s have served notice on the local council that they intend to hand responsibility for its upkeep to them.
To do so they will invoke a piece of Victorian legislation - the Burial Act 1853 - subject to an Order in Privy Council being made to discontinue burials.
It means that the parish council will need to raise extra money through the precept from next year, adding to residents’ annual bills.
Anyone who wishes to express a view on this is invited to go along to the next meeting in the village hall at 7.17pm on Wednesday June 12, when the matter will be discussed.
In the meantime Uplyme cemetery is undergoing a much-needed programme of refurbishment and improvement, with a smart new compound by the entrance for spoil and rubbish, and the stone wall by the entrance is being repaired and repointed.
At its next meeting, the parish council will also be considering the installation of handrails on the paths as the cemetery is built on a slope, which some visitors to the graves inevitably find difficult.
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