And what did you do to help restore our historic graveyard? ........ find out tomorrow at 12 at the Bowling Green Hotel

 Just over a month ago a few of us came together to look at ways in which the graveyard by the green could be helped.

The graveyard, 2023

It has been at the centre of Chorlton life for over three centuries and surrounded a succession of local churches, dating back to the early 1500s.

The Lych Gate, circa 1900

And here were the graves of more than 360 individuals and families, from the great and wealthy to traders, shopkeepers, farmers, and agricultural workers.

The church was closed in 1940 and demolished nine years later leaving the graveyard a closed and almost forgotten place till it was landscaped and given a makeover in the 1980s.

And forty years on it is time to come together to look at it again.

In the intervening years some of the gravestones which act as a path have moved slightly and others are suffering from the constant foot fall which is steadily wearing away the inscriptions.

The Lych Gate, 1980

All of which led to the formation of a “Friends” group which could look to the immediate need of keeping the gravestones clear of the detritus of old leaves and soil and have an overview of how the place could be developed in partnership with the City Council.

Looking across the green to the graveyard, 1981

So, this Sunday come along at 12 to the Bowling Green Hotel where after the unveiling of a blue plaque marking the historic importance of the pub, we will be taking about the group.

Andrew Simpson will give a short talk about the history of the graveyard and the parish church along with some of those who were buried there and then Peter will outline the aims of the Friends’s group.

Already the newly established Facebook Friends site has attracted 210 members in just over a month and each day a few more sign up. *

And almost Breaking News there is a planning application in for the City Council to renovate the Lych Gate and external walls.

Renovating the Lych Gate in 1993

So that is it, come along on Sunday and be part of the project.

Pictures; The Lych Gate, circa, 1900 from the Lloyd Collection, Target Tower Repairs, South Manchester Express and Advertiser, 1993, and pictures of the Rec, 1980, 1981, and 2023 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

**The Friends of Chorlton Graveyard, www.facebook.com/groups/chorltongraveyard

**Listed building consent for fabric repairs and redecoration of the Lych Gate and boundary walls, 136990/LO/2023, Manchester City Council Planning Portal, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=RURB6TBCJOG00