The Loneliest Grave in England

Nick Ardley says:

I would like to point out that I took a BBC team to the island by Whimbrel and then to the grave by dinghy during September 2020 – film is on Youtube with link on my web site.

I said it was doubtful that I would go back: I said, I hoped that the grave would be left in peace – the view of programme presenter too.

Clearly, this view is not respected.

I was in two minds about doing this for the grave should not be used as a ‘destination’.

I wrote about the sad story in my book, ‘Swinging the Lamp’ published in 2016 – which awoke the BBC.
For the book, I was sent a picture for use, of the grave taken by an ‘army’ team in early 1950s courtesy of Historic Collections of the Institute of Naval Medicine. I noticed there is a cropped picture in the film – no acknowledgement appeared to be given. Where was it obtained…

The film’s maker also says the grave is sinking into the ground. This is incorrect (apart from the fact that the whole southern end of country is sinking, yes.) As stated in my book, the land has been flooded for one hundred years and in that time silt deposits have raised the ‘land’ level (saltings) year by year. The 1950’s visit made by the army team found the silt depth at around 150 mm over the grave stone. That was after thirty years of inundation – 70 years on, just the tops of the railings can be seen, which amounts to around a metre in one hundred years. It is a well known fact that the wild saltings will rise with rising sea levels. Just look at saltings levels outside walls compared to land inside – although shrinkage adds to lowering levels.

The film does not appear to reference the background information about the grave’s whereabouts – it can’t just be found – i.e., no provenance to the information…

I only hope that it is now left in peace.

BBC film on my web site: https://nickardley.com/films-and-clips-to-be-savoured/