A FAMILY is to reclaim its heritage and find a more suitable resting place for the headstone of its ancestors.

The descendants of the Hardwicks, of Middleton, are set to retrieve a gravestone bearing the names of several family members.

The headstone is among a number, piled up in a clearing at Ilkley cemetery, for more than 30 years.

When researching her family tree, Kate Mason, of Cocking Lane, in Addingham, discovered that the headstone was listed as being at the cemetery in an index at Ilkley Library.

The Hardwicks, who lived in the area from the 1500s were her late husband's family, with one member marrying a man called Mason.

Mrs Mason, who is retired, then saw an article in the Ilkley Gazette appealing for anyone who wished to claim the stones to step forward - the rest are to be made into a footpath.

After a family conference, Mrs Mason said she expressed an interest in reclaiming it. She said the likelihood is that the stone will be placed in the garden of the home, which has been in her family for 100 years.

Mrs Mason said: "We thought it would be nice. That is the longest that any of the family have lived in one house.

"So we thought possibly we could find a place for it in the garden. We certainly don't want to lose it."

David Morton, of the Bradford Buildings Preservation Trust, which is determined to place the stones in a more suitable position as part of a restoration of two Victorian chapels, at the cemetery, said he was more than happy for the family to collect a piece of its history.

He said: "If somebody wants them back, they can have them back.

" As a trust, it is just something that came to our notice. We do not own them. If Mrs Mason wishes to do something with hers, that is up to her."

Anyone else wishing to reclaim a headstone, before the footpath is laid, should contact Vivienne Francis at the Ilkley Gazette.