Nine closed churchyards are set to reopen after money was found for urgent repairs.
The cemeteries in Petworth, Fernhurst, East Wittering, Linchmere, Midhurst, Lavant, Tillington and Chichester are all under the care of Chichester District Council
On Tuesday, its cabinet agreed to use £100,000 from its reserves to pay for the works.
These include critical repairs to the lychgate at St Mary Magdalene and St Denys Church, in Midhurst and a retaining wall at the churchyard in Tillington.
Andy Howard, operations manager for Chichester Contact Services, said: “The lychgate was surveyed two years ago and found to absolutely okay – but it’s had a very rapid drop and that’s believed to be attributed to rot in the timber underground.
“We’ve had a surveyor draw up some detailed proposals for it and we’re just working with the church and the town trust to understand how that repair needs to be undertaken.”
Mr Howard said the retaining wall at the churchyard in Tillington was one of the biggest structural concerns. It adjoins a private garden and has bulged and cracked so much that it is now a significant health and safety worry.
The council has liaised with the property owner and cordoned off the affected part of the wall, while working with the church and a surveyor to come up with a solution.
The council has a legal responsibility to maintain churchyards that no longer have room for burials and have been closed by the head of the Church of England.
Its responsibilities include the maintenance of trees, shrubs, grass, walls, fences and gates. Some of the structures are centuries old.
Until now, surveys have been carried out every three years to find out what work is needed to keep the churchyards in decent order.
The most recent surveys have uncovered some significant structural concerns, such as timber decay and ground swelling, which are believed to have been caused by increasingly wet weather.
So the cabinet agreed to add £10,000 to the annual repairs and maintenance budget so that the surveys can be carried out every two years.
In the meantime, the other repairs will be carried out “as a matter of urgency”.
