Review to establish Isle of Man church memorial slave trade links

All Church of England grounds and buildings on the island will be reviewed

A review is under way to establish which Manx church monuments and tombstones have links to the slave trade.

The audit of memorials in Church of England grounds has been launched by Right Reverend Peter Eagles.

The church should "acknowledge" any "deep injustice and human sadness" associated with the memorials, the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man has said.

The audit will consider more than 40 buildings and churchyards.

The move follows recent events involving the Black Lives Matter movement, which were sparked by the death of George Floyd in the US.

While there "isn't necessarily any intention to remove or highlight particular items", the review would make it possible to consider whether the island's cultural history "needs to be better articulated", Rt Rev Eagles said.

The review could enable a "fuller understanding" of history, he added.

Freed slave Samuel Ally died on the Isle of Man aged 18 and was buried at Old Kirk Braddan

The Isle of Man played a key role in the British slave trade during the 1700s.

Rt Rev Eagles said: "History cannot be viewed only from the perspective of the present day, but neither can it stand absolute and unchallenged.

"We are called at this time to look back over the way in which we present our history and to ask whether we are telling the story as fully as we can.

"If there is deep injustice and human sadness behind memorialisation, it needs to be acknowledged."

Sodor and Man is the smallest diocese in the Church of England.