How long will it take me to transcribe this grave?!!!!

[eadaoin]

Update from OP!

This graveyard is very old, and there are several notable people buried there. Over the last year, a local group has publicised the stories behind some of the headstones. This has led to a great deal of tidying of graves, new headstones etc. And the "elves" have been busy doing general tidying over the autumn and winter.

I didn't have to cut back the ivy . . when I visited after Christmas this is what I found

[BumbleB]

Congratulations to all those involved in the clear-up 

[Wiggy]

Is the inscription still able to be read after supporting all that ivy for years?

[Gone]

Update from OP!

This graveyard is very old, and there are several notable people buried there. Over the last year, a local group has publicised the stories behind some of the headstones. This has led to a great deal of tidying of graves, new headstones etc. And the "elves" have been busy doing general tidying over the autumn and winter.

I didn't have to cut back the ivy . . when I visited after Christmas this is what I found

That's pretty impressive!
I did a 300 mile round trip to a cemetery in Lymington Hampshire 2 years ago, knowing several of my family are buried there. It was disappointing to find the place neglected and a lot of older headstones so weathered, they couldn't be read.

[eadaoin]

Is the inscription still able to be read after supporting all that ivy for years?

yes - the ivy seems to have protected it.
I'm waiting until the light is better before taking a proper photograph  to put up on the web..
Bridget Gately of Denmark Street, 1923, aged 63 (that's the gist of it)

Many of the stones are very weathered - the oldest I've been able to (partly) read is from 1728, but there were burials long before that.

My avatar as at January 2021 is the church in the cemetery

[Guy Etchells]

It's interesting how this overgrowth depends on the gravestone material.  I made a fruitless search in the churchyard at Penmon in east Anglesey several years ago.  Most of the stones were in fine purple Snowdonia slate, and looked as if they had only been there a short time, not over 100 years.  Maybe the smooth surface makes it harder for things to take hold, but I suspect there may be a chemical reason.

I did a university work placement transcribing in a cemetery and noticed the same. Some very old stones looked new, while others which were only decades old looked as though they had been there for centuries. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with the way some materials react to air pollution - happy to be told I'm wrong though.

Yes, that is one reason, another reason is location of the stone and the material it is made of, some of the soften stones are severely affected by erosion form dust carried on the wind, others such as slate suffer from water seeping into the layers and causing spalling, others (sandstones, limestones) may have their surface minutely dissolved by water, either rain or washing.
Mosses, ivy grass and even burying the gravestone protects it from erosion, but if the inscription is concealed then even though it is protected it is not really serving its intended purpose.

Cheers
Guy

[brigidmac]

Thanks for updating a year later
It gives hope for others visiting neglected grave yards .