Mourners heartbroken as graveyard turned to ash

PART OF THE BEDWELLTY GRAVEYARD WAS DAMAGED BY VANDALS 16:31, 20 May 2025 Around 20 graves were left with significant damage after the historic graveyard of a rural Welsh church was set on

fire. The vicar described the damage as "shocking" and said he and his congregation were "suitably outraged". St Sannan's, in Bedwellty near Caerphilly, is home to a

gravestone dating back to the 1770s. Reverend Matt Davis said the fire on Sunday morning had damaged a 100 square-metre area and "significantly damaged around" 20 graves but they

haven't yet been able to properly access it as the ground is still hot. Rev Davis said as soon as volunteers could get safe access to the area they would be in contact with the families

of the affected graves. _Stay informed on Caerphilly news by signing up to __our newsletter here_. Rev Davis said: "We only found out about it when one of my wardens saw the fire

engines at the church on Sunday morning. It's quite an isolated church and we don't have any direct neighbours in the area where the fire took place. "There's nothing

there which can just magically catch fire and where the fire came from there is a tree which is due to be removed so it seems they've set fire to some dead wood that was there and

it's travelled across the grass. Article continues below "It is quite shocking. The pictures don't do it justice in showing how far the fire has gone or how far it could have

gone. "Myself and the church community are very upset and sympathetic and suitably outraged as much of the family would be as those in the graves." Rev Davis also said they are

looking for volunteers to help with the clear-up and general upkeep of the graveyard. "If anyone would be interested feel free to contact us," he added. People with family buried

there flocked to the comments of a Facebook post to express their concern. One person wrote: "My grandparents are buried here. How low can some people go? No respect for anything or

anyone." Someone else said: "That's disgusting. My great-grandparents are buried there in the old part." Article continues below A spokesman for South Wales Fire and

Rescue said of Sunday's incident: "SWFRS received a call at approximately 11.46am to reports of smoke near St Sannans Church, Bedwellty. "Crews and an appliance from

Aberbargoed attended the scene and extinguished a grass fire using a hose reel jet. Stop message was received around 12.59pm."