THE curator of a Bradford graveyard restoration project is close to completing a book detailing the lives of some of its most noteworthy burials.

Margaret Gray established the Heaton Graveyard project in 2003, with the aim of returning the derelict graveyard to its Victorian splendour.

Over the past four years, she has compiled detailed notes on close to 60 people buried in the graveyard, which is situated opposite the recently-closed Heaton Baptist Church in Leylands Lane, Heaton, and is hoping to publish them as a "social history" of the village.

"There are so many interesting stories, and I've had people from as far away as Australia and Canada filling me in on their ancestors from Heaton," she said.

"I wanted to keep a record for the future, as one day the graveyard won't be here any more, and we need to maintain the rich history of Heaton's past.

"It was such a diverse community, and by writing about a mix of people I'm trying to capture the social history of Heaton as it was back then."

There are more than 1,100 graves in the graveyard, which dates back to 1824, and according to the chapel register, 8,630 people have been interred since 1868, with the last burial taking place in April 2007.

One of the people profiled in the book is Thomas Bottomley, a notable former police constable from Manningham.

Mrs Gray said she first read about Mr Bottomley in a book centred on the works of the Victorian Bradford artist John Sowden, featuring an 1890 portrait of the policeman.

"Thomas Bottomley was a member of the Bradford Borough Police Force who worked in the dark and dingy streets of Manningham, where he was a well-known character," said Mrs Gray.

"On one of my visits to the graveyard, I was looking at the inscriptions when I came across a very simple grave which stated `T.Bottomley, owner`.

"I was intrigued and wondered if it could possibly be the grave of the old `Bobby` Thomas Bottomley.

"Sure enough, the census gave his profession as a `police constable`, confirming absolutely that it was his grave."

Prior to the opening of the Bradford City Police Museum, housed in City Hall, in August this year, Mrs Gray was shown a picture of a uniformed officer who had been painted by Sowden, and immediately recognised the image as that of Mr Bottomley.

She was then told that his great, great, granddaughters had contacted the museum to try and find out more about their relative.

"I contacted them immediately to tell them what I knew," said Mrs Gray.

"I was quite amazed when it transpired that I actually knew the family from my younger days at Bolton Methodist Sunday School.

"The two contacts, Gaynor and Constance Haliday, were the daughters of the late Margaret Haliday, the great-granddaughter of Thomas Bottomley.

"It was the icing on the cake, and a delightful conclusion after several coincidences."

Since Heaton Baptist Church closed at the end of March, the graveyard project has been left without a venue to hold fundraising events, and Mrs Gray said any money raised from the book would be put towards the upkeep of the site, which is described as a "peaceful haven" by people in the area.

"I would love it to go to print at some point, even if it was just soft-copy, or on a CD," she said.

"I know the families of the people involved would like a copy, and I hope others would find it interesting as well.

"We have nowhere to raise funds now, so trying to keep the project going is a nigh-on impossible task.

"Any proceeds from the book could help us continue that little bit longer."

For more information on the project, visit heatongraveyard.co.uk.