Abersoch Holiday Homes ‘graveyard as your garden’ advert sparks fierce backlash
Abersoch Holiday Homes has sparked a fierce online backlash for advertising “a graveyard as your garden”.
The holiday lets company’s Facebook post about St Aelrhiw’s Church overlooking Porth Neigwl, which has been converted into a cottage, was blasted as “distasteful” and “disgusting”.
The firm, which is owned by The Original Cottage Company Limited, and is registered in Norwich, has apologised for the ad, which it described as an “oversight” and said it had been “removed immediately”.
In response to the Facebook post Rhys Llewelyn said: “Shameful. Every hut, church, house, smallholding are being turned into second homes.”
Tegid Jones said: “Isn’t there anywhere safe with these holiday homes, in a cemetery now?”
Thomas Davies said: “At some point in the process ‘can we convert this?’ is a less important question than “’ we convert this?’ Distasteful to put it very mildly.”
Eleri Jones said: “What the actual? Yes let’s go play football in the middle of the graves…”
Lali Jones said: “Absolutely disgusting”.
‘Churchyard’
The advert on the Abersoch Holiday Homes Facebook page said: “From the moment you enter the churchyard there is a sense of something special about St Aelrhiw’s Church.
“You will be greeted by original features at this quirky 18th century retreat; the original font, vaulted ceilings, exposed inscriptions and even a graveyard as your garden!
“With the beach, shops, pubs, trails and so much more, all on your doorstep, you’ll really fall in love with this unusual home. Original Cottages. The clue’s in the name. St Aelrhiw’s Church.”
In a statement to Nation.Cymru, Abersoch Holiday Homes said: “We sincerely apologise for the recent oversight in relation to a social media post about our St Aelrhiw’s Church property.
“The post has been removed immediately. We deeply regret any offense this may have caused and remain committed to supporting the local community, wherever we can.”
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Peak of capitalism right there, Senedd needs to step in to buy old churches and convert them into a social hub, and before people complain that it would cost us too much money, remember that holiday homes or /and second homes destroys communities and instead of keeping the population around where they can contribute to our economy, you have houses that are too expensive for locals who have to move away.
You can simply add a cafe or other money-making option to these buildings so that money raised can pay back what it cost to renovate them..
‘quirky’ One big bargain hunt in’it…a country’s history under the hammer.
For shame! Is nothing sacred in this modern, money mad age? Even the dead are being misused as part of this greed-fest! For shame!
Stop being little Englanders and be proud to be welsh kick all incomers out of wales 🏴 young people in wales can’t get on the housing market because of incomers it’s time for a new wales 🏴
I respectfully disagree with you. It’s not about being offended over nothing. Cemeteries are sacred places where the dead should be respected and treated with dignity. They should never be treated as real estate.
The housing market in Playground Wales needs serious regulation, and soon. How is a holiday-home firm in Norwich allowed to by a disused Welsh church? Where are these properties being advertised? Towns in Cornwall are now putting a stop to the sale of local properties as holiday homes; what on earth is to stop councils in the west of Wales from doing the same? And how long must this go on before the Welsh Government finally intervenes in a more ernest way?