Unmarked grave.

[CorporalPunishment]

Houghton Regis Baptist Chapelyard, Bedfordshire. 3916 Lance Corporal Gilbert Horsler, 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, died 3rd of May 1916. This grave originally had a private headstone but that has now gone and the actual grave site is apparently lost. As a Houghton Regis man myself I would dearly like to see Gilbert get the recognition he deserves with a CWGC headstone. Can anyone point me to a contact please?.       Pete.

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

@Terry Denham could point you towards a CWGC contact maybe?

Edited 17 July , 2022 by Dai Bach y Sowldiwr

[mills-bomb]

Is there not a cemetery plan in the church archives?

[helpjpl]

CWGC states that Gilbert Horsler, Bertie William Crew and Thomas Joseph King are buried at Houghton Regis Baptist Chapel Yard:

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2746245/gilbert-horsler/#&gid=1&pid=1

According to billiongraves and findagrave all 3 are buried in Houghton Regis Cemetery:

1(a)   https://billiongraves.com/grave/Gilbert-Horsler/26935172

 

1(b)  https://billiongraves.com/grave/B-W-Crew/26939983

 

1(c)  https://billiongraves.com/grave/T-J-King/26937878

 

2.  findagrave:

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2431745/memorial-search?page=1#sr-227805297

JP

 

Edited 17 July , 2022 by helpjpl

[CorporalPunishment]

2 hours ago, helpjpl said:

CWGC states that Gilbert Horsler, Bertie William Crew and Thomas Joseph King are buried at Houghton Regis Baptist Chapel Yard:

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2746245/gilbert-horsler/#&gid=1&pid=1

According to billiongraves and findagrave all 3 are buried in Houghton Regis Cemetery:

1(a)   https://billiongraves.com/grave/Gilbert-Horsler/26935172

 

1(b)  https://billiongraves.com/grave/B-W-Crew/26939983

 

1(c)  https://billiongraves.com/grave/T-J-King/26937878

 

2.  findagrave:

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2431745/memorial-search?page=1#sr-227805297

JP

 

JP, The headstone you show is no longer on Gilbert's grave. When the old Baptist Chapel was demolished in the 1970s the burial ground, long out of use, fell into a state of total disrepair and became completely overgrown. After several years the local council decided on a clear-up and a grassing over. With a few exceptions the headstones were removed from the graves and placed against the new wall that was built around the burial ground. The CWGC headstones of Thomas King and Bertie Crew were, of course, left in place, along with a few of the larger civil ones but the private headstone from Gilbert's grave is, or was, a long way from his actual grave leaving it as an unmarked grave. In fact, I don't recall seeing that headstone at all the last time I was there so, in all probability, it is now forming part of someone's patio, knowing Houghton Regis as I do.       Pete.

[Acknown]

Faced with similar lost grave issues, my ports of call are: the Minister (plus the church deacons and the administrator in this case), the local historical society (https://hrhs.org.uk/), residents whose families have lived in the village for a long time and the county archives (https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/Archives-Service.aspx). But I suspect you already have this.

Acknown

Addition: And old photos of the site.

Edited 17 July , 2022 by Acknown

[PaulC78]

You can email the CWGC at enquiries@cwgc.org

Or just go to the "contact us" page on their website and fill in the enquiry form.

[CorporalPunishment]

12 hours ago, Acknown said:

Faced with similar lost grave issues, my ports of call are: the Minister (plus the church deacons and the administrator in this case), the local historical society (https://hrhs.org.uk/), residents whose families have lived in the village for a long time and the county archives (https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/Archives-Service.aspx). But I suspect you already have this.

Acknown

Addition: And old photos of the site.

The burial ground has no connection to the present-day Houghton Regis Baptist Church and they probably don't even know the location of it. The local council maintain it as a garden of remembrance and it is situated next to the current cemetery. I will try contacting the council about it but given the amount of in-fighting going on between that bunch I won't be relying on them for any help.     Pete.

1 hour ago, PaulC78 said:

You can email the CWGC at enquiries@cwgc.org

Or just go to the "contact us" page on their website and fill in the enquiry form.

Will do.      Pete.

[Acknown]

Last thought, local undertakers may have historical details. 

Acknown

[squirrel]

17 minutes ago, Acknown said:

Last thought, local undertakers may have historical details. 

Acknown

Data protection act may come in to play here with what they might bew able to trace.

[CorporalPunishment]

I visited the burial ground again today  and found the headstone shown by JP in post 4 to be still in place against the wall but now much greener and harder to read. I will try to contact the CWGC next week and explain to them that Gilbert Horsler now lies in an unmarked grave, a situation that needs resolving. I suppose they might consider a stone leaning against a wall well away from the actual grave to still count but in reality it should not. I will now try to get a copy of the ground plan of the burial ground and take it from there.     Pete.

[bedfordyeoman]

Hi Pete,

I'm that old that I can remember the baptist church and churchyard. I used to buy my fishing gear from a lady that ran a little shop next to the Five Bells, itself adjacent to the church, and just before Townsend Farm.  I can also remember the Tithe Barn and pre-Bedford Square - the doctor's surgery used to be in the line of houses that ran up to the church and is now part of the car park. The urbanisation of Houghton Regis is a good example of how to destroy a village - I'm struggling to think of any other Bedfordshire village that had its soul ripped out in this way.  My mum and dad have a headstone in the new cemetery. 

Certainly, the old churchyard was in a very poor state. I used to walk past it most days and I remember it being very overgrown, the railings falling over and the memorials leaning every which way. There's no doubt that many memorials were lost in the clearance. 

I don't have cause to go to Houghton these days but that's probably a good thing.

South Beds Council used to keep plot records but whether their successors (Central Beds ?) would have anything is debatable. Local government ain't what it used to be.

Good luck with the hunt.

Best wishes,

David

[CorporalPunishment]

4 hours ago, bedfordyeoman said:

Hi Pete,

I'm that old that I can remember the baptist church and churchyard. I used to buy my fishing gear from a lady that ran a little shop next to the Five Bells, itself adjacent to the church, and just before Townsend Farm.  I can also remember the Tithe Barn and pre-Bedford Square - the doctor's surgery used to be in the line of houses that ran up to the church and is now part of the car park. The urbanisation of Houghton Regis is a good example of how to destroy a village - I'm struggling to think of any other Bedfordshire village that had its soul ripped out in this way.  My mum and dad have a headstone in the new cemetery. 

Certainly, the old churchyard was in a very poor state. I used to walk past it most days and I remember it being very overgrown, the railings falling over and the memorials leaning every which way. There's no doubt that many memorials were lost in the clearance. 

I don't have cause to go to Houghton these days but that's probably a good thing.

South Beds Council used to keep plot records but whether their successors (Central Beds ?) would have anything is debatable. Local government ain't what it used to be.

Good luck with the hunt.

Best wishes,

David

Hello David, yes the destruction of Houghton Regis is now virtually completed, it's totally done for now. The shop you refer to was, in my childhood, run by Mrs. Dickens but that was a long time ago. I've tried phoning the Baptist Church contact number but have so far had no reply. I really would like to see Gilbert get the recognition he deserves as those three war graves have interested me for a very long time. I was actually born in Cumberland Street just a few hundred yards from the burial ground and the graves have always held a fascination for me. I'll keep trying to sort something out for Gilbert. All the best,      Pete.