Sheffield family erects ANOTHER unauthorised 30-tonne marble memorial next to Britain's 'biggest grave'
From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026 · last updated 22 September 2026.
Willy Collins, the self-proclaimed 'King of Sheffield', whose original £200,000 headstone at Shiregreen Cemetery already broke planning rules, is now joined by a second 30-tonne marble monument to his brother Michael.The memorials to the Collins brothers at Shiregreen Cemetery in Sheffield, where all four Collins siblings are now dead and the new monument bears the inscription 'Sheffield Collins Brothers' beneath an image of them…
Sheffield City Council has confirmed a 30-tonne black marble monument to Michael Collins appeared at Shiregreen Cemetery in September 2026 without formal approval — the fee was never paid and the final design was never submitted. The nine-and-a-half-foot structure features two life-size statues, a marble pint of Guinness, a working Bluetooth jukebox, life-size statues of Jesus Christ, and an etched marble flatbed truck. It sits just yards from the 37-tonne, £200,000 marble headstone of Michael's brother Willy Collins, the bare-knuckle boxer dubbed the 'King of Sheffield', whose own grave was also built without permission.
Willy Collins' original memorial — which reportedly sparked a 'war' threat from his widow Kathleen — was buried in a 22-carat gold coffin and cost £200,000.
The council says the new memorial includes elements that were never discussed with them, leaving its future uncertain.
Locals have reportedly compared the growing cemetery complex to 'haunted crazy golf' as a fourth Collins brother's grave now also occupies the site.
