RELATIVES who think they might have ancestors laid to rest in a Hull city centre burial ground are being urged to come forward.
Part of the Holy Trinity burial ground lies on the route of the proposed multi-million-pound Castle Street improvement scheme.
Before the works start, human remains from what could be up to 16,000 burials at the site will have to be exhumed.
The project has the potential to be the UK's largest mass exhumation outside of London.
Now the Highway Agency is appealing for relatives to come forward ahead of a detailed planning application for the road scheme being submitted early next year.
James Holmes, the Highways Agency's Castle Street project manager, said: "We are doing everything we can to ensure the road improvement work impacting the Trinity Burial Ground is managed respectfully, with full care and due consideration.
"The burial ground closed in 1861 and, although there is no legal obligation to contact relatives of burials that are more than 100 years old, we feel the right thing to do is to ask anyone who thinks they may have ancestors laid to rest there to please get in touch with us."
The proposed road improvement scheme will include around one-third of the existing burial ground near the busy Mytongate junction in Castle Street.
The Trinity Burial Ground was created as a result of a population boom in Victorian times.
As consecrated ground, Highways Agency officials are working closely with representatives from the church and the Diocese of York to ensure all appropriate measures and permissions are in place for the planned work.
An appeal for relatives to get in touch was launched last year as part of early public consultation on the planned road upgrade.
The Venerable Andy Broom, Archdeacon of the East Riding, said: "Although no one has been buried at Trinity burial ground for more than 150 years, we are really glad that the Highways Agency's team is appealing for descendants of those buried there to come forward.
"It is important that everyone comes together to ensure this necessary work is done in a way that respects those interred in the burial ground and their families.
"The church will be working with the Highways Agency to make sure that all human remains from the affected area of the site are treated with honour and reburied in the unaffected area of the burial ground with an appropriate service.
"Once the works are complete, Hull should have beautifully renewed burial ground, which will be a focus for commemoration, a place to discover something of the city's rich history, and an important city centre refuge for wildlife."
• Anyone who thinks their ancestors may be buried there should call the project team on 0113 2836805 or email A63castlestreet.hull@highways.gsi.gov.uk
Specialists to oversee exhumationsTHE available records suggest up to 16,000 burials may be located at the site.
Most date back to the early 1800s and many include family burial plots, reflecting the high infant mortality rates of the 19th century.
Human remains from the area will be exhumed before the main construction programme begins.
Any removal and reburial of human remains will be controlled and con- ducted by a team of trained archaeologists and cemetery exhumation specialists. Although not yet confirmed, it is possible that some of the remains may be analysed to help provide new information about life in Hull at the time.
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