16-07-2025
Council plans homes at cemetery – but hasn't removed all the bodies
Kent residents have criticised 'appalling' council plans to build homes on cemetery land after they said it failed to exhume all the bodies buried there.
Tunbridge Wells borough council planned to build 20 new homes on a site inside Tunbridge Wells Cemetery, but were required to exhume the bodies of 15 people, including a baby, buried in pauper's graves.
Although the Lib Dem-run council said the bodies had been exhumed in autumn 2020 by a 'specialist exhumation company', a freedom of information request seen by The Telegraph confirms only the remains of four people were found.
The document names George Langridge, Maria Thomsett, George Cross and George Payne as the remains found and reinterred in new graves in the cemetery.
This means that 11 other bodies, including the body of baby Frances Sarah Day, remain buried at the site, which dates back to 1873.
Residents who lived near the cemetery first expressed concern in 2020, when, according to campaigner Justin Quinn, his neighbours were told by people on the site that they were 'unable to find [the bodies]' as they thought they were 'buried too deep'.
But when concerns were raised with the council, Mr Quinn said they 'weren't met with a great deal of sympathy'.
Mr Quinn said: 'The biggest shock was the tone of the messages we got back from the planning department.'
He said they tried to give the impression that it was 'done deal' and 'everything was above board'.
Mr Quinn added: 'It was frustrating that it felt like if we didn't escalate our campaigning, it would have got brushed under the carpet'.
Eve Wright, another resident, said that the 'inappropriateness of the proposal' was 'appalling'.
As well as the issues surrounding the exhumation, or lack thereof, the development raises questions of privacy for residents and visitors to the cemetery.
Ms Wright added: 'People who visit graves, it's a very private moment. The last thing they want is to be overlooked.'
Another campaign group, Friends of the Tunbridge Wells Cemetery, have also highlighted concerns that the site remains consecrated, and should therefore still be used for burials.
Lynee Monkton, secretary of the group, told the BBC: '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 be used as a cemetery unless they can prove otherwise.'
Residents are calling for action by the council, starting with an 'acknowledgement' of the findings revealed by the FOI request.
Mr Quinn explained: '[We need] acknowledgement from the council that there are bodies there and they should engage more sympathetically with local residents.
'We felt like we should have deserved a letter through the door saying this is going to happen right next to your house'.
Ms Wright also criticised the lack of 'public consultation' throughout the ordeal.
She said: 'The council should thoroughly investigate everything that has been brought to light and should certainly put a stop on any further development of the planning.
'I think they should meet with the local residents, some kind of a public consultation.'
