THE Church in Wales is supporting proposed changes to the law that would transfer the care and maintenance of closed graveyards to local authorities.

Bearing the cost of their upkeep had been “a heavy and unfair” burden on churches for many years, the director of property strategy for the Church in Wales, Alex Glanville, said. The radical changes outlined in the proposed new law, which embraces the many aspects of burial and cremation, would have a significant impact.

“It is the only denomination in Wales that has an obligation to bury all parishioners, without discrimination: a similar duty to the Church of England,” he said.

“However, we do not have the equivalent power to transfer maintenance of closed burial grounds to local authorities. We believe the proposed change in the law is fair. Our congregations receive no income from closed burial grounds; so the burden of maintenance weighs heavily on them.

“We are very grateful for discretionary grants made by some local councils, and urge others to consider doing the same, but we do believe the responsibility for maintaining places of community burial which are full should be able to be passed to the local authority.”

Burial law has evolved over the centuries, and much of it remains unchanged since the 1850s. Aspects of it in its current state “offer too little protection” to people who bury or cremate their family and friends. “Research also shows that there is a risk of burial space running out in the future, which is an issue that law reform could help to address,” the Law Commission points out in its burial and cremation consultation document.

It continues: “This area of law impacts us not just as individuals, but also as members of different communities and faiths. The respect which we show to the dead is of significance to the whole of society.”

By way of illustration, the cost of maintaining the closed graveyard at Mynwent Tanysgafell, near Bethesda, in north Wales, has fallen on parishioners in the ministry area (MA) of Bro Ogwen. The graveyard surrounds a ruined chapel, and was in use between 1848 and 1913. Among those buried were quarry workers, few of whom lived beyond their forties.

During the last year alone, the MA has had to come up with a sum of about £1000 to repair a wall, and to respond to a farmer’s concerns that his sheep were eating berries — toxic to the animals — that were falling from the yew trees on to his land. More tree work proved to be needed, at a further cost of about £450, and more specialist work may need to be done in the future.

“It’s also our responsibility to ensure health and safety, particularly with tree work,” a community chaplain, the Revd Sara Roberts, said on Tuesday. “The graveyard in this, a heritage area, is far from being unvisited. Descendants of some those buried here still live locally, and people searching for their ancestors come here from as far away as America and Australia.

“There is still emotional attachment to this graveyard. The Archaeological Trust had a work day, and invited people to come and do some clearing of brambles and undergrowth, and recording of stones. It got a lot of interest,” she says.

Churches have found ways to get physical help to maintain graveyards, including using workers from the Community Payback scheme, and some local communities have decided to to get together and do it regularly. “But that depends on somebody having the time and the energy to get people up and running,” Ms Roberts says. “And the challenges vary from location to location, with some burial grounds level, and others on the hills.

“The issue isn’t just that we’ve got shrinking congregations, and so the burden is falling on fewer and fewer people. It’s also the case that people move away, and can no longer look after the graves of their relatives. When people know there’s a problem, help can come flooding in. But people tend to assume the church has got lots of money, not realising that the local church hasn’t got anything.”

The proposals are at consultation stage, with a deadline for responses of 9 January. Following the consultation, the Government will consider the recommendations, and when to bring forward legislation. Much of the law in this area is devolved to the Welsh government.