Special service at memorial chapel (From Wharfedale Observer)
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Special service at memorial chapel
11:00am Sunday 2nd September 2012 in Local news
High Royds Memorial Garden chapel, where a service will be held to commemorate the lives of almost 3,000 people who died at the former psychiatric hospital at the site
Details of a special service to commemorate the lives and deaths of almost 3,000 people at a former psychiatric hospital have been revealed.
The Archdeacon of Brad-ford, the Venerable David Lee, and the Reverend Ruth Yeoman, the vicar of St John’s in Menston, will lead the inaugural Thanksgiving Service at the chapel in High Royds Memorial Garden next month.
Work on the chapel was completed earlier this year thanks to a raft of volunteers and lottery funding.
Friends of High Royds Memorial Garden have been behind the work on the interior of the chapel, in Buckle Lane, Menston, next to land where 2,861 former patients at the High Royds hospital were buried in unmarked paupers’ graves.
The service will take place at 4pm on September 9, and anyone interested in attend-ing is asked to contact Friends’ chairman Ron Sweeney on (01943) 863362 or e-mail him at ron@windmill- centre.co.uk as space is limited.
The service will be at the conclusion of a Heritage Weekend at the chapel and gardens, in conjunction with the National Heritage Open Days initiative. Both will be open to the public from 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm on September 8 and 9.
Displays of photographs and other artefacts from the former psychiatric hospital will be on show, and refreshments will be available from the High Royds Social Club.
The Friends of High Royds Memorial Garden are also looking for volunteers and help to maintain the chapel and the gardens. In their latest newsletter, the Friends said: “The garden and adjoining wood are now owned by the community.
“It must be emphasised that more than 150 local people gave their support, and it is this commitment that is still required so the garden and chapel can be developed and maintained on a sustainable basis to respect the dead and be a credit to the locality.”
Contact Quentin Macken-zie on (01943) 876625 or e-mail him at quentin.mackenzie @purification.co.uk for further information.
