By Rachael Grealish

Cumbria Police say ‘no crimes have been identified’ following an investigation into St Monica’s Home and Parkside Road Cemetery, in Kendal.

Following a BBC investigation into the former home, which operated between 1918 and 1970, where they found a woman had taken her own life, allegedly, due to the treatment she received at the home the Cumbrian MP, Tim Farron, called for police to investigate.

Subsequently, an investigation was carried out by detectives at Westmorland and Furness CID, which involved a review of all the evidence.

Police also carried out enquiries which included contact with staff at the cemetery, interested parties, the relevant diocese and the local authority. Officers followed up and focussed on the concerns raised.

However, police found, to date, no crimes have been identified. Police also empathised saying that the ‘issues raised can be traumatic for some people’ and published a guide to support services available for various issues, available here.

In the BBC investigation, they found that in 2006 a woman, Judith Hindley, killed herself close to where her baby son was buried, her husband Stephen revealed.

Judith had been sent to St Monica’s in 1963, by her parents, when she fell pregnant at the age of 17. Stephen told the BBC the treatment his wife received was ‘Dickensian’. Unfortunately, Judith’s baby died and was subsequently buried in an unmarked grave.

“They were treated very harshly,” Mr Hindley added. “They were worked from morning until night – that’s what she told me. That went right up until they gave birth. It was like something from a Dickensian novel – just awful.”

A joint statement from Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council said: “During this time period families often didn’t have sufficient resources to pay for a funeral. Consequently, burials in unpurchased or public graves were fairly common.

“Whilst our records do not contain the causes of death for those buried at Parkside Cemetery, the Council does hold records of who is buried there and these are publicly available.

“If anyone thinks they, or a relative, spent time at St Monica’s and would like to find out more, they can get in touch with the Information Governance Service at Westmorland and Furness Council at: information.governance@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.”