Couple's 375-year-old Roughlee cottage with GRAVEYARD in back garden

Bob Sutton, 59, was not put off purchasing his 375-year-old cottage after learning there were three tombstones and 92 people buried behind the address.

Instead, he and his partner, Nubia Farquharson, have spent the last 25 years proudly bringing the overgrown former Methodist cemetery "back to life".

Bob said: "Although a lot of people say to me ‘I could not live there,' it’s one of the most peaceful places in England - it is to me, anyway.

“I like going to graveyards anyway, some of the graveyards I see are dilapidated, but this one, I’ve brought it back to life, and I’m absolutely proud of it.”

When Bob and Nubia snapped up the one-up-one-down Waterfall Cottage, in Roughlee, for £47,500, they had an “inkling” a tomb might be in the garden.

But it was only when Bob, who is a caretaker, cleared away mounds of thick bracken that he discovered three gravestones dating back up to 150 years.

He later learned that John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, had been chased from the village by an angry mob while preaching to locals in 1748.

Decades later, people who knew of the incident and Wesley’s connection to the area built a chapel just behind Bob’s terraced property.

Dozens of children and adults from the previously poor area were then buried in marked and unmarked graves beside the since-demolished place of worship.

Bob said: “I had an inkling the graves were there as I’d walked around the back of the house before I purchased it, and I could see there was some sort of monument. 

“But it did not put me off buying the house. It’s a very small village, and I thought, ‘I’m going to go ahead with it’. And actually, I’ve loved taking care of the headstones.

"It looks nice now, as it’s a place people can come and just sit and take it all in. And in fact, it’s been a lovely pleasure restoring them. It’s a fascinating place.”

Bob has documents that record the names of the 92 souls who are buried in the decommissioned graveyard at the back of his and two of his neighbour's property.

And one of the most prominent headstones in his garden was produced for Mary Holgate, who died in childbirth at the tender age of 29.

A touching inscription on her tomb reads: “She lived much beloved, and died much lamented.”

Bob now welcomes visitors to his garden who show an interest in the graveyard or want to research their ancestors.

He said: “I feel like I’m the link between the past and present.

“And I have no problem at all with people coming to my garden to look around. It will be of interest to some people – and that’s no problem.

“Last year we had a party for my mum’s 90th birthday in the garden, and there was about 25 of us, and most people were fascinated. 

“Nobody said ‘That’s ghoulish, that’s awful, I couldn’t live here’. We had a cross-section of people, and they all said 'That’s beautiful, wow.'

“The best thing about it is on a summer’s evening, you go into the garden and sit down with a cup of tea or glass of wine, and you can hear a pin drop, it’s so serene.

“It’s not spooky. Maybe for some people it is – but to me it’s not.”

Bob said despite living in a home surrounded by buried dead bodies, he had never seen any paranormal activity. 

He added: “I had a super sensitive cat for 19 years, and I’ve been here 25 years, and I’ve not seen or heard anything.”

He now allows members of the Methodist Society to visit his property and pay their respects each year.

And around 18 months ago, he agreed that they could put up a blue plaque on his cottage to mark the presence of John Wesley and those buried nearby.

Bob added: “They asked if they could come up once a year to sing hymns and pray. 

"There are about 50 of them, and I said 'Of course, you can, I’m all for it.’ It’s a nice thing to do. 

“They came a few years running, and then they asked if they could put a plaque on the wall so people could see there was a graveyard around the back.

“Nobody knows it’s here – even people in this village don’t know it’s here.”