Shock and distress over grave containing hundreds of children

M.E.N. readers have shared heartbreaking stories after a historic mass grave containing the bodies of almost 300 babies and young children was found in a cemetery.

- CHARLOTTE HALL

Hundreds of people expressed their sympathies with families affected by the discovery at Royton Cemetery in Oldham.

Many said they were aware of the existence of ‘pauper graves’ at Oldham’s cemeteries, where homeless people and those who passed away in workhouses were historically buried. But the presence of 145 stillborn babies and almost 130 babies and young children came as a shock.

The discovery was made by a Royton woman who was searching for the last resting place of her twin brothers, who passed away shortly after birth in 1962. Their parents were never allowed to say goodbye and never told where their children were buried, according to the resident.

Until the 1980s, it was ‘standard procedure’ for medical staff to tell bereaved parents that their stillborn children would be laid to rest alongside ‘a nice person’ being buried that same day. Instead, the babies were interred in mass graves.

Now, decades later, parents and relatives have been uncovering the heartbreaking truth about the practice.