The Grass.

Christ Church AoG bought the church building from the Church of England in the late 1980’s. Although we have rights of way through the grounds/graveyard, the graveyard (including the lawned over parts) remain the property and responsibility of the Church of England.

Sadly, the Church of England seem to have washed their hands of their responsibilities regarding the upkeep of the church grounds and graveyard. Many years ago (1970’s ?) the parts of the graveyard bordering Bolton Road/Pendlebury Road/Fraser Street had the gravestones laid flat and were lawned over. The part of the graveyard on the side of the church furthest away from Bolton Road is still as it was, with grave stones.

In respect of the lawned area, up to and including the 2016 growing season the grass was cut by Salford City Council.

It came as a surprise to us at Christ Church in late spring of 2017 when the grass was not cut. During the negotiations prior to the purchase of the church building we were assured that the lawned area of the grounds would be maintained by the council acting on behalf of the Church of England in perpetuity.

Since last year, members of Christ Church have received a number of negative comments regarding the lawns and we took the matter up with the Church of England and also with the council. The Church of England failed to respond to any of our telephone, email or written communications. The council advised that the arrangement whereby they cut the grass had been an informal one and due to the constraints on services caused by the latest austerity/budget cuts they could no longer cut the grass.

At the start of the growing season commencing spring 2019 we asked for a quote from the council for them to cut the grass and were advised they no longer had capacity to do the work and declined to quote. Some of the church members have voluntarily cut the grass on the lawns immediately adjacent to the church during the 2019 growing season which has made a big difference. Unfortunately it has not been possible to attend to the lawn adjacent to Fraser Street.

Sadly the local council appear to have washed their hands of any responsibilities (whether social or legal) and since the Church of England have proved unwilling to even acknowledge our communications it does not seem likely that they are going to fulfil their obligations regarding the maintenance of the graveyard anytime soon.

During the course of the past 30 years, there have been two or three initiatives to maintain the part of the graveyard which still has the gravestones in place using offenders who have been sentenced to community service (arranged by the Church of England). These irregular initiatives have proved insufficient, although we would readily acknowledge that without them the condition of the graveyard would be much worse than it is.