Thousands of mass graves were used to bury stillborn babies

The discovery of a mass grave containing the bodies of almost 300 stillborn babies in Royton shook Greater Manchester earlier this year. But new data has revealed the site is tragically one among thousands of similar grave sites across England. 

More than 89,000 stillborn children were buried in communal burial ground across the country, an FOI has revealed. Of 314 councils only 45 were able to provide data as many of the records are hand-written in ledgers, meaning the actual figure could be much larger. 

The practice was common up until the late 1980s, with parents often kept in the dark and told their loved ones would be buried ‘with a nice person’ in an adult grave. 

Christine, sister to baby Joyce, who died two days after birth and was buried in a communal grave in Greenacres Cemetery, responded to the news: “I’m absolutely astonished that it was so widespread and that there are so many other families like ourselves that were misinformed. I just think it’s really sad that there are thousands of people out there that still don’t even know that that’s happened to them.

“It’s a horrible thing, to not give people the opportunity to bury their loved ones properly. The scale is shocking. It was almost like it was acceptable and it never should have been acceptable.” 

Christine grew up with the grief of her lost sister hanging over the family. Her parents, Anne and Peter, found Joyce’s final resting site after the mass grave in Royton was discovered. 

They described the ‘horrible feeling’ of discovering they’d been lied to by doctors. But since discovering their daughter’s grave, they have created a memorial on the site which has provided ‘a lot of peace’ for the whole family.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the widespread nature of mass graves for stillborns was a ‘troubling revelation’ for parents who’d already been through ‘traumatic experiences’. 

He added: “We’re working closely with the leader of Oldham Council to start to find out everything that we can find out everything that is possible to find out. I think that’s the main thing – having honesty from the authorities about why these graves were there, which organisations were using these sites, giving people as much truth as we can possibly get and then perhaps supporting parents with a permanent location to go to. 

“I think there’s a lot more to come out on this.” 

Oldham council are working on a memorial to honour the babies in Royton and other cemeteries across the borough. There will also be a Church service and candlelit vigil this Sunday, December 15 at St Paul’s church, which is open to all.

A Tameside council spokesperson said earlier this year: “Firstly, our hearts and thoughts go out to all families where their babies have been buried in unmarked public graves.

"The majority of burials will have been stillborn babies or babies that unfortunately only lived for a short time. 

“The council is aware that many years ago this was a common practice.” 

The borough has historic public graves in all eight cemeteries with a mixture of adults and babies.

A memorial stone in the baby section of Dukinfield Cemetery commemorates all babies. 

Families are advised to contact the cemetery office by emailing: cemeteriesandcrematorium@tameside.gov.uk or calling 0161 342 4461.