Gravestones

[RedMystic]

I'm looking for some advice from those of you who know your way around graveyards & gravestones.

I have heard a number of things about recording gravestones:

- photograph when the sun is low.
- take flour and rub it into the stone (particularly dark stones) in order to get eroded writing to stand out (what would one use for a light coloured stone?)
- when flour doesn't make the lettering standout, then use poster paper and a soft crayon to do a rubbing.

I'm also interested in hearing any advice on how best to locate gravestones in cemeteries that have not been mapped.

Does anyone else have any hints I should consider? I'll be travelling a very long way to see what I can find and want to ensure I'm fully prepared. (I know not everyone has a stone, but I do have some family records that indicate that several that I'm looking for did exist.)

Thanks as always to you marvelous RootsChatters.

[dovecote]

Hi,
On light stones I`ve used water, on headstones with missing lead letters I`ve used  the holes as a guide,
and where cemeteries haven`t been mapped I would imagine  it`s sturdy boots and a lot of legwork!

I`ve spent many hours trundling through graveyards, it`s great fun and a wonderful sense of achievement
when discovering an ancestors grave.  However, would like to point out that  when asking permission to
remove moss , to record gravestones  I met much opposition from the Church Warden who took the
matter further and have never been allowed to do so.  Quite bizarre but unfortunately a fact.

[Isabel H]

A reflector (and an assistant to hold it while you take photos) is helpful. I use an A4 size piece of cardboard covered in tinfoil (smooth on one side, crumpled on the other). The crumpled side reflects diffuse light, the shiny side is more focussed.

[Jeuel]

If at all possible, check whether or not there's a list of Monumental Inscriptions before you get to the churchyard.  That will tell you if there's a gravestone to be found. 

The quality varies greatly. 

My gt grandparents' stone in Richmond is legible and the cemetery kept very neatly.
 On the other hand, another set of great grandparents,  had a memorial stone put up some time before 1964, which was snow white when I saw it in 1967, a little weather-worn in the 1980s and two years ago had fallen over and was illegible.

Many churchyards have just let areas grow wild, so you can't even get to the stones, if indeed they are there.

I have however, found MIs listed online or in books (or microfilm) for several churchyards I've been unable to visit.

There's also a website which lists graves (a bit hit and miss on coverage) which will email free of charge a photo of the stone.

[Annie65115]

Why not put a message on the relevant county section of Rootschat before you set off on your long journey, to see if anyone knows if there are resources to help you search the specific graveyards of interest?

[RedMystic]

Thanks to all for these great ideas. I envision my suitcase expanding with "search contingencies". Love the idea of using water on a light stone; had never considered the issue of moss. How does one overcome that barrier? Hmmm.

I've got a few grave sites to visit in Aberdeen and other Chatters have been most generous in helping to identify the locations of those. All are in mapped yards - though not the same yards.

An island historian (and sometimes visitor to the Inverness RootsChat Board)  has provided some guidance with respect to Benbecula - apparently 3 grave yards there, but one is under an airport runway (covered up in a hurry in WWII when defences were paramount as I understand it). Another one, very old, exists but has no markers. The third dates back to about 1850 (if I recall correctly), is still in use, is apparently reasonably well kept, but never mapped. It is the largest of the three on the island.

I've got burials dating back before 1880 on South Uist, but haven't yet done any research on those yards. The sites might be too weathered to be of much value. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong when I visit.

While I know I've family buried in the Outer Hebrides, I have no idea if any have stones, but I'm on a quest so am compelled take a look.

TX again to all. Your insight is much appreciated.

[Annie65115]

Mmm, beautiful parts of the world, but if you're going in the next few weeks, remember to pack the midge repellent! 

[RedMystic]

On the other hand, another set of great grandparents,  had a memorial stone put up some time before 1964, which was snow white when I saw it in 1967, a little weather-worn in the 1980s and two years ago had fallen over and was illegible.

Many churchyards have just let areas grow wild, so you can't even get to the stones, if indeed they are there.

Until I started FH I never gave a thought about the importance of upkeep & restoration of stones.  Now, I walk through graveyards in communities in which I have no relatives, see this kind of evolution (perhaps better expressed as degradation), and it makes me sad.

[RedMystic]

Mmm, beautiful parts of the world, but if you're going in the next few weeks, remember to pack the midge repellent! 

Arriving 2 months today and I'm sooooo excited I could leave today - midges and all.   

Midge repelant - I'll put that on my shopping list for pick-up upon arrival. Will I be able to get that at a grocery store or do I need to see a pharmacy?