LOST SOULS: Campaigners 'filled with hope' after government says Surrey cemetery IS protected
We've been with the Friends of Horton Cemetery and MP Helen Maguire as they meet with the Ministry of Justice
Campaigners say they're optimistic after meeting a Government Minister as part of a longstanding drive to return public access to a huge Surrey hospital cemetery.
The Friends of Horton Cemetery want to see the land off Hook Road in Epsom taken back into public ownership, as it contains 9000 bodies belonging to people who died in the historic "cluster" of Victorian hospitals.
It was sold off in the 1980s and access is now prohibited, both for members of the public, and for families who are tracing their relatives' history.
9000 bodies lie anonymous, neglected, but not yet forgotten
The story of the site was featured in the Lost Souls documentary.
The landowner did not reply to a written request to take part.
Epsom and Ewell MP Helen Maguire organised the meeting with MoJ Minister Alex Davies Jones in Parliament, who told the group she is confident the land is protected from development "by default" because the Disused Burial Ground Act of 1884 does not apply there.
She says any future development could only come with family permissions to exhume the bodies contained within - something that would be highly unlikely given many of the families are members of the Friends of Horton Cemetery group itself.
Plans for Horton Cemetery's future
The group will now look to see the historic nature of the site more widely recognised, through bodies such as English Heritage.
Helen Maguire MP told us the meeting was very constructive: "It was very important to her (the Minister) to make sure burial sites like these are protected for the future, and she stated unequivocally 'by default' the site is protected so that is really good news.
"The question for everyone now is what are the next steps in terms of getting the site back into public ownership but certainly making sure we can maintain it, as currently it's in complete disarray and is not at all recognising the 9000 people who are buried inside."
After the meeting, Theresa Kenefick-Conway from Friends of Horton Cemetery said: "It's filled me with hope and enthusiasm that we can actually save Horton Cemetery.
"The people in there weren't just suffering with mental health conditions, there are pregnant women buried there, and their babies have been buried with them, so we know there are children buried there.
"And its that level of emotional pull that says they should now be treated better."'
Find out more about the plight of Horton Cemetery
Listen to the award-winning Lost Souls documentary