Family learns they visited wrong gravestone for nearly 20 years
A family from the UK have been left devastated after discovering they have been visiting the wrong grave for almost 20 years.
The Bell family, who buried their familial patriarch Thomas back in 2005, regularly visited his gravestone at Holy Trinity cemetery in Wingate, County Durham, for 17 years.
According to the BBC, it wasn't until Thomas' wife Hilda - who was due to be buried beside him - also died this year that the mix-up was discovered.
The family discovered that a mix-up at the cemetery has seen Thomas's headstone been "placed on the wrong grave", due to "insufficient process" and "poor record keeping".
An inquiry into the incident found "a perfect storm" of problems led to the crushing mistake, believed to be due to the human error of a stonemason.
Bob Cooper, the Archdeacon of Sunderland, said that the error was a "great sadness" caused by a number of wrong protocols being followed.
"The term 'a perfect storm' is used all too often in modern parlance, however on this occasion it seems particularly apt," Cooper said.
"It cannot be guaranteed that historic cases like this will not reoccur because there will be gaps in the records for many reasons in parishes across the Diocese of Durham and further afield."
A number of recommendations are set to be implemented within the parish to ensure the mix-up does not occur again.
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