UNN has received the following Press Release in relation to the situation in Rottingdean:
Following conversations which have taken place over the past year with local residents, and also following the recent high profile campaigns which have rightly drawn attention to issues surrounding racial prejudice, the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Margaret’s, Rottingdean took the decision last week to place protective coverings on the headstones of G H Elliott and Alice Banford, who both died in 1962.
It has taken this decision for two reasons. It wishes, as is its legal obligation, to protect the property (the gravestones) of the relatives of the deceased, but at the same time would welcome an urgent conversation with descendants about the appropriateness of the wording of the inscriptions in their churchyard.
In law, a headstone is the property of the heirs at law. Efforts will therefore continue in the attempt to contact the relatives of G H Elliott (Alice Banford is believed to have no surviving relatives).
It is proposed that these new headstones would be introduced into the churchyard once necessary permission is obtained.
The Parochial Church Council is grateful to key local residents with whom constructive dialogue in recent months has helped to move this sensitive issue towards a resolution.
The Vicar of Rottingdean said, “We are grateful for the patience of local residents who have engaged with St Margaret’s over the past year, and are pleased that a way forward is being facilitated with other interested parties to agree an outcome which does not cause public offence but which continues to respect the memory of the deceased.”
The Archdeacon of Brighton and Lewes, Martin Lloyd Williams, said, “history is always being curated in fresh ways. I am grateful to the PCC and to local residents for looking at this issue with a fresh eye and a new perspective, and for reflecting on the decision to remove wording which, in my opinion, causes significant offence in today’s world.”
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