Katherine looks forward to grave task

Katherine Slay had a curious job before joining the record office five years ago '“ she was a one-woman gravestone inscription transcriber for the Sussex Family History Group.

Among the gravestones Ms Slay spent many hours working on were those from the Litten graveyard at St Pancras, which was the main burial ground for Chichester before the Portfield cemetery came into use.

Now the 146 gravestones are being moved she has been allowed to return temporarily to her old job to finish transcribing the inscriptions, which date from 1690 to 1870.

"Quite a lot of the writing is beneath the ground at present, so this is a wonderful chance to find out a bit more of Chichester's history," she said. "I know it will also be very hard work '“ cold, muddy, slow and back-breaking."

For full story see West Sussex Gazette February 27