Calls not to build homes on former cemetery site

Chairperson of the Friends of the Tunbridge Wells Cemetery, Dr Janet Sturgis and secretary Lynne Monckton. They are pointing to the Tunbridge Wells Cemetery Plan, dating back to 1873, which shows the site is consecrated

Campaigners say plans to build housing on the site of a former Tunbridge Wells cemetery should not go ahead as they believe bodies are still buried there.

The local council has proposed to build 20 homes on the former Tunbridge Wells Cemetery in Benhall Mill Road.

Friends of the Tunbridge Wells Cemetery say the site had 15 pauper's graves dating back to the 1800s, and the BBC previously reported the council exhumed 15 bodies back in 2019 as part of its plans to build a depot on the site.

A spokesperson for Tunbridge Wells Borough Council said the bodies were exhumed by a "specialist exhumation company".

They also said detailed surveys and work took place during autumn 2020 "once necessary permissions had been granted".

But Lynne Monckton, secretary of the campaign group, said there was a "strong likelihood" bodies were still buried at the site.

"The people buried there were not buried in coffins," she said.

"Not much of the bodies were found because the ground was very wet and it was no longer used for burials.

"We assumed the bodies disintegrated quite quickly but there could still be remains."

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council proposes to build 20 homes on the former Tunbridge Wells Cemetery in Benhall Mill Road

The campaigners added the council had not provided documented evidence that all bodies had been exhumed.

They also say the site is still consecrated land, meaning it is declared sacred by the church and should be used for burials.

Ms Monckton added: "As far as we can see, the site was consecrated in 1873. We have no record it was deconsecrated so it should still be able to use as a cemetery unless they can prove otherwise."

The spokesperson for the council said: "The found remains were treated with dignity and reburied in a different part of the cemetery.

"The particular section of the cemetery where the bodies were buried is not consecrated ground and it is not unusual for graves to be moved in this way."

The council added a memorial was erected with the names of the deceased in the cemetery grounds and all the works were carried out in consultation with the Friends of the Cemetery.

The BBC asked the council for documentations of the exhumation back in 2020, as well as documents to demonstrate the site has been deconsecrated before publication.