Should sheep be allowed in a churchyard?

[HillBill]

Circle of life mate

No one should be burned IMO. It denies the land the nutrients it should be having back

Purely my own personal view is why anyone, living or dead would want their dead flesh buried.

 

[sandbender]

Circle of life mate

No one should be burned IMO. It denies the land the nutrients it should be having back

My will states that I'd prefer a 'green' burial, but only if the money is there. The land doesn't really benefit when your buried six feet under, ideally you'd be at ground level for the beetles, birds, foxes and such to have their way with you.

"...It was sheep that kept the grass down in years gone bye..."

I'm not convinced of that, if nothing else if the churchyard few yew trees in it and your sheep have a nibble your out of pocket. More likely that someone was in there with a scythe and sickle now and again.

 

[Mesquite]

Tell me.... which is more disrespectful... sheep controlling the grass and keeping the churchyard looking neat or something like this?



That's a cemetery I was involved with through work. Because of a severe lack of funds over a number of years the church had to make the hard decision to either keep the church maintained or the cemetery.

The church came first.

It took almost 4 years of clearing to get it looking like this

 

[Bushwhacker]

That's a good clean up job, Mesquite, but that's quite a state to get into in the first place.
If I was the vicar, I know what I'd be doing with my free time.

 

[Toddy]

That's the point though; it's not the churchmen's responsibility; it's the congregation, relations and friends of those buried, who should be keeping the place tidy. To be buried in 'holy ground' was a privilege, not a right, and unless the congregation is wealthy enough, or able and willing enough, graveyards moulder down. It's nothing new.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Mesquite]

That's a good clean up job, Mesquite, but that's quite a state to get into in the first place.
If I was the vicar, I know what I'd be doing with my free time.

You say that but I really doubt you'd make much inroads on it.

The vicar inherited it in that state when he came to the church and had about 10 acres of grounds to care for... it just wasn't possible for him or the congregation to maintain especially as the average age was in the early 60's.

Sometimes hard choices have to be made as to where to spend the money and maintenance costs money. As John has pointed out the dead are dead but at least relatives can still visit the graves without any trouble from the sheep.

 

[boatman]

Think of how many bodies are crammed into the London Churchyards. Funeral we went to in Romford was industrial with a mechanical digger working all the time and corteges being marshalled like airliners. As with a death and a disposal anywhere the respect and reference come from the relatives and friends, certainly not from a Church functionary spouting anodyne phrases or the boneyard setting.