MORE than 300 bodies, with the most being of babies and kids, have been found in a mass grave in Oldham.
The grave in Royton Cemetery, was found by a woman looking for her brothers, with one stillborn and the other dying within five hours in 1962.
GoogleThe bodies were found in Royton Cemetery in Oldham[/caption]
The resting place measures just 12x12ft.
Out of all the remains discovered, 146 were of stillborn babies and 128 babies and young children, according to councillors Maggie Hurley and Jade Hughes, who revealed the grim find in a statement.
Up until the mid-1980s, stillborn babes were often taken from families with no consultation with their parents, who would not know where they were taken.
The councillors said: “It’s a stark injustice that parents were denied the fundamental right to bury their babies, a right that should be inherent and unquestionable.
“This situation should stir our collective sense of fairness and empathy.”
They added the woman who found the grave was left “in tears” following the discovery and left her “feeling a profound sense of loss and injustice”.
She needed emotional and practical help to cope with the trauma of her discovery, they said.
The grave is not the only one of its kind in Royton Cemetery, with another three of a similar size, the councillors said.
Of the 303 bodies found, they added there were only 147 names online, with 156 names missing – though they say this has been addressed.
The councillors said: “We also asked about the other cemeteries across the borough, and we were informed that there is missing information for these cemeteries as well.
“The staff are currently in the process of rectifying this by cross-referencing all available records and updating the online database.”
They have put forward a motion to Oldham Council to “recognise the injustice” that has taken place, the Oldham Chronicle reports.
The statement read: “How many babies are laying in Royton Cemetery in mass graves, their identities unknown to their grieving relatives?
“It’s a stark injustice that parents were denied the fundamental right to bury their babies, a right that should be inherent and unquestionable.
“This situation should stir our collective sense of fairness and empathy.
“We cannot change what has happened, but we can ensure that the babies born sleeping are named, recognised, and never forgotten.”
According to Sands, a stillbirth and neonatal death charity, parents of stillborn babies or those dying shortly after birth were not consulted about funeral arrangements.
The charity said: “Before then, parents were not usually involved and many were not told what happened to their baby’s body,” adding this changed midway through the 1980s.
“Some parents who have tried to trace the grave or cremation record of a baby who died some time ago have been successful.”
In many cases, they added, stillborn babies were buried in a shared grave with other babies.
Sands said there was a “general belief, both amongst professionals and society as a whole, that it was best to carry on as though nothing had happened”.
“You may have been discouraged from talking about or remembering your baby and discouraged from expressing grief,” they added.
The two independent councillors said the woman who made the discovery had set out to locate the resting place for her brothers after reading about Gina Jacobs, who found her son, who was stillborn in 1969, in a mass grave at a cemetery in Wirral in 2022.
GettyThe mass grave was discovered by a woman who was looking for the resting place of her brothers (file photo)[/caption]
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