Nellie Rault’s grave in Haynes churchyard
Nellie Rault’s unsolved murder back in 1919, one hundred years ago, inspired my murder mystery Murder Now and Then set in two time zones, 1919 and 2019. As I explained in my talk the other day, Nellie continues to haunt me in various ways with unsolved mysteries today including a strange email from the Luton Paranormal Society! When I first found her grave in St Mary’s churchyard Haynes, Bedfordshire, her cross was at such a precarious angle, it looked as if she was trying to get out. If you look closely at this photo the horizon is not horizontal ~ the ground is actually flat and not sloping at all ~ I’ve turned the camera off kilter!
When a friend of mine went looking for Nellie’s grave a couple of months back, to his dismay the cross has fallen over altogether. After asking me if I’d be interested in helping to raise the money to restore it, which I immediately said yes to, he wrote to the parish council. He had a nice email back saying that, because it is a Commonweath War Grave from WW1, the commission would visit and lay the stone flat on the ground.
Much to my friend’s surprise he received another email a couple of weeks ago saying that Nellie’s grave had been mysteriously restored
Nellie Rault’s grave restored
in the night and that the Parish Council had no idea who the benefactor was. I promise it wasn’t me but nevertheless I’m pleased it is restored so well. Above is a photo of the grave is in all its glory! The ground is flat as you can see.
Murder Now and Then can be ordered from Waterstones or bought from Amazon.
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https://www.nevillefuneralservice.com/restoration-of-the-grave-of-nellie-rault/ it is no secret
Hi John. Thanks for popping by. I am sure the Commonwealth War Graves Commission had a hand in the restoration, but the church official who write to my friend was writing ‘tongue in cheek’ I think, when he said it was a mystery 😉