Graveyard in the Middle of nowhere

LS13 · Post by **LS13** » Sun 03 Oct, 2010 7:05 pm

I was driving on the road from Greenhow to Blubberhouses today (road towards Pateley Bridge from the A59) and just North of the Stone House pub near Stone House cross roads. I noticed a large , rough woodent cross in a field. I slowed down to see what it was and noticed about 20 gravestones in the field. Further investigation showed some were quite recent ie from the 1990's. There were a variety of names on the graves so it isnt one families plot. There are no buildings adjoining the field and few houses near by. It seems a strange place for a cemetry.Anyone know what it is and why its there?

jim · Post by **jim** » Sun 03 Oct, 2010 7:58 pm

Looking at a map of the area I suspect this might have something to do with the village of West End, almost completely "drowned" by the construction of the nearby Thruscross reservoir.

grumpytramp · Post by **grumpytramp** » Sun 03 Oct, 2010 8:00 pm

If I am not mistaken this is the cemetery created in the sixties for exhumed bodies and all the headstones that were removed from the West End or Thruscross Church when the valley was flooded to form Thruscross ReservoirSee http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapshe ... oy=1356The West End church can be see in the valley bottom

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Sun 03 Oct, 2010 9:24 pm

Yes it contains the exhumed bodies and/or gravestones from the West End cemetery. Quite a number of years back I had a query about one of the graves at the new cemetery published in the YEP, but I can't yet find the copy I made at the time. The grave is that of a soldier killed in India in the 1800's. It was thought however very likely that the body would have been buried in India as it was unlikely that it would be brought home.

iansmithofotley · Post by **iansmithofotley** » Sun 03 Oct, 2010 9:30 pm

Hi everyone,My sailing club used to sail at Thruscross Reservoir until 1995 before we moved to Grimwith Reservoir. Here are some pictures of West End village, which I took in late 1989, when the reservoir was very low. I think that the first picture is of the church. All of the buildings were flattened by the construction team prior to it being flooded.When we sailed at Thruscross, ramblers used to come into the clubhouse and ask for information about the church and the 'sunken village'. We used to tell them that it was all under the water and that if they came back on a very windy day and stood on the shore, near to where the village was located, then if they listened very carefully, they could hear the church bell ringing which was caused by the action of the waves under the water. I often wondered if anyone was gullible enough to believe this joke.There are further photographs, including some very old ones, on Google Earth.Ian

Post by **tyke bhoy** » Sun 03 Oct, 2010 9:37 pm

Leodian wrote: The grave is that of a soldier killed in India in the 1800's. It was thought however very likely that the body would have been buried in India as it was unlikely that it would be brought home. I suppose it depends on rank as in those days rank was often bought with wealth rather than earned. I suppose its possible if he was a general but unlikely for much less. Nelson was "pickled" (Rum?") so he could be returned from Trafalgar but can't even see IPA as being much of a preservative for the long voyage back from the sub continent. IPA was brewed to survive the journey out but wasn't meant to come back.

LS13 · Post by **LS13** » Mon 04 Oct, 2010 8:48 pm

Thanks for that--I knew someone on here would know the answer...and very interesting it was too! It was pouring with rain when I stopped so I only looked at the graves near the road--some of those definitely seemed quite recent, I saw one from the late 90's so wonder if they continue to allow burials of people who's family were exhumed from West End?

Crazy Jane · Post by **Crazy Jane** » Mon 04 Oct, 2010 8:52 pm

"We used to tell them that it was all under the water and that if they came back on a very windy day and stood on the shore, near to where the village was located, then if they listened very carefully, they could hear the church bell ringing which was caused by the action of the waves under the water."I'd heard a version of that story in the 90s, where the whole structure of the village was still there under the reservoir. The bell ringing bit was still there but was told as a ghost story rather than with a scientific explanation.