06 September 2024 , 10:03
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More than 300 bodies including hundreds of children and babies have been found in a mass grave in Oldham.
The 303 human remains were found unmarked 12ft by 12ft plot in Royton Cemetery, with 145 identified as stillborn infants, 128 as babies and young children and 29 as adults.
A woman from the area made the discovery whilst searching for the grave of her twin brothers who died in 1962.
She said her parents were never truly able to say goodbye to them as they died soon after they were born and quickly taken away from them.
Councillors believe this may not be the only mass grave in the cemetery as it was common practise before the 1980s for stillborn babies to be taken away without further details of where they were buried.
Bereaved parents were instead told their child was buried alongside a ‘nice person’ that same day.
The adults discovered in the graves are likely to be ‘pauper’s burials’ for families who could not pay for a proper burial.
Local councillors Maggie Hurley and Jade Hughes said: ‘It’s a stark injustice that parents were denied the fundamental right to bury their babies, a right that should be inherent and unquestionable.
‘This situation should stir our collective sense of fairness and empathy.
‘We cannot change what has happened, but we can ensure that the babies born sleeping are named, recognised, and never forgotten.’