The space where Stuart Sutcliffe’s headstone should be.

Stuart Sutcliffe’s grave at St Michael’s, Huyton has been a place of pilgrimage for dedicated Beatles fans
The space where Stuart Sutcliffe’s headstone should be.
Stuart Sutcliffe’s headstone has gone missing from his grave in Huyton – but it will return.
The headstone’s disappearance was noticed on Wednesday by a fan who had decided to look in on the grave in St Michael’s churchyard while walking through the town.

The missing headstone has caused some concern among Beatles fans, but a source close to the family of the band’s original bassist confirmed it had been taken for restoration work.
Sutcliffe, who played bass with The Beatles between 1960 and 1961, was buried at St Michael’s after his death in 1962 at the age of 21, and the site has become a place of pilgrimage for dedicated fans
Although born in Scotland, Sutcliffe grew up in Huyton and attended Prescot Grammar School before enrolling at Liverpool College of Art where he met John Lennon.
After playing with the band in Hamburg in 1961, he left the group to focus on painting and remained in Germany but suffered a brain hemorrhage in April 1962 which caused his death.

Along with the headstone, there is a bench in the churchyard dedicated to his memory, paid for and unveiled by fans and members of the Sutcliffe family in 2015.