Bethel Sketty Cemetery
Preserving the History and Legacy of Bethel Sketty Cemetery
In the News
(2022-2023)
Relatives of thousands buried at Swansea cemetery including Rorke's Drift soldier fear for future of graves after sale
This is the report by Molly Dowrick a senior reporter for Wales Online dated 6 September 2022. Bethel Relatives' Group is calling for the Trustees of the Chapel to explain what measures will be in place to ensure they will still be able to visit their loved ones when the chapel is sold and what will be done to ensure the new owners keep the cemetery well maintained.
Full report here: Wales Online
Swansea chapel sale prompts fear about graveyard access
Newtown chapel headstones illegally removed to make way for a car park
Descendants of those buried at Bethany Chapel near Newton, Powys were very distressed to find that headstones had been illegally removed to make way for a car park adjoining the chapel. Thankfully, they were able to successfully fight against this and the headstones are now to be returned to their original places.
Although the headstones will be replaced, Dyfed-Powys Police said it was "investigating a report of criminal damage at Bethany Chapel, Hodley, Newtown"
Full report on
21 September 2023 here BBC News
A Scandal in Sketty!
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On 6th February Colin Fenn posted an article on Inconvenient Dead entitled “A scandal in Sketty – Sgandal yn Sgeti”. It talks about the Trustees creating a brand new charity, restructuring the legal ownership of Bethel, re-writing their charitable aims and objections thereby potentially removing many of their legal obligations. The article suggests this was all done in an attempt to sell the property and avoid their responsibilities. Link
ITV Wales News Report on 25th February 2023
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Fiona Nixon (secretary of our Friends group) and Colin Fenn (vice chairman of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends) were interviewed at Bethel by Dean Thomas-Welch, a senior correspondent with ITV News Wales. We believe they gave a good account of our concerns and the plight of Bethel Cemetery. Here is a link to our Facebook page with the ITV Wales News report: posted on our Facebook group on 25th February by Janet Nielsen. Link
NEWSLETTERS
Issue 1: July 2023
A Personal Account of visit to Bethel
Staffordshire Poet Laureate (2014/15), Gary Longden, visited Bethel Cemetery back in 2017 to visit family members. Gary's account is one worth a read and shows how the cemetery has been neglected for years.
Friends of Bethel Sketty Cemetery, Swansea
Press Release Friday 3 February 2023
Stop This Scandal - Save Our Graves!
Please see link in which the press release was published by Skettyonline. Link