Group mapping graves for future generations

Amateur historians have taken it upon themselves to map and document the locations of the graves in a churchyard.

Holy Trinity Church in Buckfastleigh, Devon, burnt down in 1992, taking parish records with it and now members of the Holy Trinity Graveyard Project said they wanted to re-record where people were buried so families and genealogists could find them.

Group member Jac Denley-Jones said: "There's hundreds of graves up there and people often come here from Australia, Canada, looking for graves... so that's what we want to do, for the community and for visitors."

The information would be available at the town library and Valiant Solider Museum once it was published, organisers said.

It all started when one of the members of the group started sketching the graves on a trip to the graveyard and, since then, they have recorded names, dates and locations of more than 350 people buried in the graveyard.

The group has also used aerial photographs to get a view from above, and divided the area into zones, giving each gravestone a letter and number.

One of the eight members identifying, clearing, recording and photographing is Geri Weedon.

She said: "I've noticed that there are some that you can barely read and it's not going to get any easier as time goes on.

"So the fact that we've taken pictures, even if they aren't legible, we will know where a family grave is."

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