The Parish Church Graveyard in 1967

This graveyard plan was produced showing the position of gravestones in 1967.

About five years after this plan was produced, Harston church, in common with all others, reviewed the gravestones in terms of safety and grounds maintenance. Some churches opted to move all gravestones to the perimeter of the graveyard. Others, like Harston, were more selective and a plan was produced in 1973 showing proposals for the removal of some gravestones. The required legal notice about this was placed in the local press with villagers invited to view the plans at the Vicarage – no-one did!! The Archdeacon of Ely and two members of the Bishop’s Advisory Council did visit and approved the plans. By April 1974 the work had been carried out. Some gravestones were propped up against the garden wall of Harston Manor but between 40 -50 were removed. At present we have been unable to discover what happen to them.

A list was also produced with the 1967 plan, giving brief details of names, year of death and type of grave. This list is reproduced in the PDF document below with an additional column which gives the numbers of the gravestones as they appear on the 2021 plan. By referring to this plan at The Parish Church Graveyard in 2021 you can find photos and fuller details of the inscriptions on each gravestone.