Index to Sales Pack

The Index deals specifically with Further Special Conditions, Transfer Deed, Plan of the Property and Epitome of title,  copies of which were included in the substantial Sales booklet. 

The Cemetery is consecrated ground, there are several references to that status in the documents, and there is a full copy of the hand-written Sentence of Consecration document dated 25th May 1916 and an attached map, within the papers which it would be reasonable to expect purchasers of the Cemetery might have read, or been advised of this position, by their legal advisers.

Full details of the many conditions of sale are included in this comprehensive document which reflects the objectives, safeguards and conditions which the Secretary of State for Heath on behalf of the Regional Health Authority, the deceased and their families was trying to achieve.

Copies of the Booklet's contents which was available to all prospective purchasers in 2000 have been included to assist readers in understanding the context in which the sale of the Cemetery took place

The Further Special Conditions of Sale

Transfer of title

The 1916 Conveyance

Forms part of the conditions of sale, and a certified copy of the document was included in the Sale booklet and made available to all interested parties and prospective purchasers of the Cemetery. The document establishes a right of way from Mitton Road to the QMMH and sets out access and maintenance responsibilities, which are required to be observed by the Lancashire Asylum Board (1916) and any subsequent owners of the Cemetery. The original hand-written and document uses lots of old words and in places, because of its age is difficult to read. However a transcript of the document is attached, with relevant sections highlighted in red. 

Enquiries made at the time

Section 8: The Standard Set Plus Pre Contract General Enquiries, highlights the questions which the prospective purchaser such as Mr Walsh and his legal representative might have been asking and the answers and clarifications which the Secretary of State for Health was providing.

Of particular interest among many other sections is the answer to question 32 "The consecrated land has been used as a burial ground since consecration"

Question 36 asks "Please confirm that any fixtures fittings and chattels included in the sale are owned absolutely by the Seller, free from any third party rights". The answer is significant  poignant and telling.  "This confirmation cannot be given. Tombstones, coffins and monuments etc. will continue to be the property of their existing owners."

The original  and subsequent purchasers of the Cemetery should have been aware of this position, its significance, and their responsibilities as owners of the site who did not own the tombstones monuments and coffins etc, to the individuals and families who did.

Extract 32

                                                         Response to Question 32 -

Extract 36

                                                                 Response to Question 36.

The misleading history

When the current research of the cemetery records first began in 2017, there was a common belief that the Calderstones Hospital authorities had sold off the Cemetery site, without consultation with the families of the deceased, former patients, or the staff of the Hospital, who had cared for them. See Dr Ingham's timeline notes.

After three years of still incomplete research, the picture appears to  be quite different. The NHS at national and regional level, did sell the Cemetery, and appears to have ignored or not consulted with the local Calderstones Hospital management and staff in arranging that sale.

However, contrary to what was claimed, the NHS at regional level, was very concerned about the future of both the Calderstones and Brockhall Hospital cemeteries. Both those hospitals were scheduled to close and their occupants, sometimes referred to as patients, were being resettled into community facilities across the North- West as part of the move to Care in the Community.

The resettlement programme, was a huge logistical challenge which was led by the Regional Health Authority with Department of Health oversight. In essence, it required the efficient transfer of resources and responsibilities from the hospitals to the district health authorities and local authorities who would assume responsibility for future care provision.

As part of that transfer of responsibility, the Regional Health Authority was routinely transferring staffing and capital resources from central to local commissioners. Most of these transfers would involve the establishment and funding of new community-based accommodation and support packages, which were to be set against the savings of running down, closing and then decommissioning the hospital wards at Calderstones and Brockhall.

The same officers who were responsible for arranging this huge logistical challenge of moving hundreds of people into completely new services within the community, whilst simultaneously managing the run-down within the two hospitals, were left with two notable anomalies to resolve. - the two cemeteries.

Whatever criticisms might be made about the outcome of their actions, there can be little doubt that these officials were motivated to secure the long term future of both cemeteries, and to that end, we believe that they began negotiations, at the request of the Ribble Valley Borough Council, to transfer or sell the cemeteries to that Authority. These officials would be negotiating with senior officers of local authorities on a daily basis, and it is assumed that the same officers who negotiated the "resettlement packages" on behalf of the Ribble Valley Borough Council, were involved in negotiating the transfer of the cemeteries.

The disposal of Government property is subject to strict legal controls and audit, which is perhaps why the sale was routed through independent agents, to sell at auction. However, it is understood that the Ribble Valley Borough Council expressed its wish to purchase the Calderstones Cemetery, a few days before the Auction was scheduled to take place.

At this point, days before the Auction was to be held, some confusing developments occur which we still do not fully understand. It was suggested that instead of the Ribble Valley Borough Council purchasing the cemetery directly, the Council had nominated somebody else, who proceeded to purchase the cemetery, but we had no documentary evidence to confirm that this was the case.

On the contrary, the "new" owner, Tony Walsh, insisted that he had had no connection or understanding with the Council, most of whose officers by 2017, had changed, and apparently it could find no record of any such agreement or intention to purchase.

With the benefit of hindsight, it now looks as though despite the best intentions of the two Regional Health Authority (RHA) officers, their plans backfired badly. Any examination of the details in the "Sale Book,"  which had been prepared on behalf of the RHA and the Department of Health, would reveal the extent to which the Health Authority had set out to protect the interests of the deceased and their families.

It is difficult then, to understand why these two officers do not appear to have discussed their plans with the Calderstones Hospital management or the relatives of the deceased, prior to the sale, deservedly attracting the criticism which followed. It has been suggested that the confidentiality of their negotiations, might have precluded wider discussion, but that is merely speculation.

In continuing the research during 2019, contact was initially made with the very helpful Estates section of the Department of Health in Derby, which provided a valuable insight into what had happened in 2000 and clarified some of our misunderstandings. Subsequently, with the valued assistance of Nigel Evans MP who has been so supportive to the Friends, we made contact with Mr Stephen Hammond, then Minister of State for Health.

A copy of his two page letter which clarifies the position is attached below - The sale was made "to enable the wishes of Ribble Valley Borough Council to be met" and " Officers believed in good faith that agreeing to cooperate with Ribble Valley Borough Council was the best way forward, as it initiated the sale and gave assurances to the Department as to the credibility of the purchasers"

Stephen Hammond letter

The 1994 proposed transfer

During discussions with representatives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and research of the many Cemetery documents available to the Friends the following letter dated 19th May 1994 was discovered in early 2022. Mr Graham C Reddie, Legal Adviser and Solicitor for the CWCG is writing to Ms C Hargreaves, Trust Board Administrator at Calderstones NHS Trust, responding to her letter of 24th April 1994. In his letter, Mr Reddie appears to be politely declining Ms Hargreaves offer to acquire the Cemetery because as he says, *it's ours already." He goes on to accurately separate the CWCG's involvement with the QMMH section in which the war graves are located from the rest of the Cemetery, and adds, "therefore we could not really take on the rest of the cemetery."

Significantly, Mr Reddie confirms the the CWCG "have the benefit of a right of way along the road through the Cemetery and the benefit of a covenant that the road and our cemetery will be maintained by you in a decent state." There seems little doubt that the RIght of Way and the accompanying covenant of maintenance of the road and the QMMH Cemetery were acknowledged and existed prior to the sale of the Cemetery in 2000, and would be known to the first and subsequent purchasers of the site. The question of who is currently responsible for the discharge of those covenants is currently being checked with the CWCG. It is not known if the Planning Authority were notified of the existence of these covenants at the time that the 2019 application for planning permission was considered.

The correspondence also confirms that the Hospital Board were considering and trying to safeguard the future of the Cemetery, long before the eventual sale which took place in 2000. Had they persuaded the CWCG to take on responsibility for the whole 3 acre site then the graves of the 1172 former Calderstones residents, like the 44 military personnel would have been safeguarded and respected.

The Right of Way

In addition to the copy of the 1916 Indenture which can be found above, the following documents were provided to the owners, remembrance Parks Construction Ltd and the Lancashire County Council as part of the application process o formally register the Right of way which runs from Mitton Road to the QMMH section of the Cemetery.

1. LCC Guidance Notes - Cover

2. 3-page extract of information taken from the 1916 Indenture

3. Copy of Land Registry map showing Cemetery and roadway

4. Copt of Right of Way map taken from Indenture documents 

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