Stillborn babies stored in 'dirty old sheds' former gravedigger reveals, after 89,000 bodies unearthed in mass graves

16 December 2024, 07:33 | Updated: 16 December 2024, 08:21

A former gravedigger has told LBC how the bodies of stillborn babies were routinely boxed up in makeshift coffins and stored overnight in a 'dirty old shed'.

An investigation by LBC has found more than 89,000 stillborn babies are buried in mass graves across England, and that, up until the late 1980s, parents were routinely told their remains would be buried with a 'nice person who had died the same day'.

As a 17-year-old, between 1976 and 1977, Steven Booth was working as a gravedigger in Preston and had the job of burying dozens of 'sleeping babies'.

He told LBC: "They'd come overnight, especially at weekends. They were just in a dirty old shed all weekend. If a lady had a baby and it died and came Friday night, it might be in there until Monday morning.

"We'd open up and on the right hand side, I can see them now, there'd be maybe three, four coffins, not made very well. The lid came off one once and they were wrapped up in a linen cloth. I had to transport them through the cemetery in a wheelbarrow and bury the little mites.

Stillborn babies stored in 'dirty old sheds' former gravedigger reveals, after 89,000 bodies unearthed in mass graves

"It was awful, especially being a boy of 17. I still lived at home, I'd tell my Nan, I've had to bury little babies, most Mondays. I left the cemetery in the end because it was too sad of a job.

"It (the grave) was seven and a half foot deep, I'd put two layers of little mites in, but it stays open until the grave is full. So you'd put, maybe, three or four babies in, cover it with ten inches of soil, and then there might be another little coffin next day, so when there were about 18 to 20, two rows, we'd fill the grave in, and it wasn't marked.

“Sadness, grief, it's bothered me throughout my life. I'm doing this now, because I'm 67 next year and it'll be half a century since I did this. These things wouldn't be done now.

"I gave them the upmost respect when I was burying them. There was total dignity on my behalf. They were buried with a prayer and with love. It means everything to me that they're cared for. I've been coming back every year at Christmas, and lay a flower, light some incense and think of them little children."

"By doing this, it gets it off my chest, and if I can put the parents in touch with a little baby that was buried in those times when I worked here, I probably know where they are. They could be lying right here, and if they need a place to come and put flowers and things like that, I can't go to my grave not telling them."

In September, LBC reported on the discovery of a mass grave in Royton Cemetery, Oldham. The 12ft x 12ft plot contains the remains of 145 stillborn children, 128 babies and young children, and 29 adults.

This discovery followed the unearthing of similar mass baby graves at Landican on the Wirral, and further points to an historical culture whereby grieving mums and dads were routinely being told their babies were to be buried 'with a nice person who had died that day', when, in reality, they were being layered up in pits across the country.

Last night (Sunday 15th December), family members of the babies attended a vigil at the graveside and laid teddies, flowers and candles. What was previously an unmarked patch of grass is now a moving memorial to the babies who were taken from their parents and disposed of.

Maureen Brierley's son was buried in Royton Cemetery 54 years ago without her knowledge, she told LBC: "It was a long time ago, when the subject's brought up it makes me upset. It's closure isn't it, to know what happened."

Gina Jacobs found her son, Robert, in a similar grave on the Wirral 53 year after he died, she said: "We have this amazing tribute, I'm overwhelmed. This is so important to have something like this for those babies who's parents will never know, who are being left with a lot of questions. Where is my baby? Why is there not a burial record?"

Sandra Platt's baby was born sleeping 59 years ago and she has told LBC she hopes she can find his resting place, she said: "All I can say is coming here today has helped me enormously. There must be other women who are in the situation I'm in. I felt so much relief to be with people who understand, mixing with other people who feel my pain and I can feel theirs."