Protecting our gravestones and memorials

[matt94]

Believe me, if i was old enough to drive, I would by trying my hardest to make rubbings, take pictures and try and conserve our graveyards in any way possible. I would be up at Basildon like a shot cleaning up, pruning weeds, but to be honest the work would never be done. It is just such a shame. That soldier's grave - such waste.

We should adopt a scheme like the pupils at Pangbourne College did - the community clearup. They all went down to Pangbourne St James and spent an hour cleaning, scrubbing and tidying graves. Good on them.

I shall have to have a look at the Churchyard at Silchester and see what the state of the stones are there.

Matt

[Man of Kent]

Funny enough just returned from the Graveside of My late Mum in Law, Mothers day and also her Birthday.
One thing I have been aware of for a while is if the Families don't maintain Graves, the council will do little, and I believe there is a reason for it..
Very often local news broadcasts the outrage of families because The Council have removed/laid dow stones"because they are an Health Risk, in the event they fall"
In my opinion and on close inspection very often it is the Council responsible for the damage.
I urge you to check your family and surrounding plots for the tale tale. signs of power mower damage.
We have a few and many not so well attended Graves are laying flat with Health risk Signs on them.
I believe this is in the long term an oppertunity being carried out by local authorities to reclaim plots earlier than the Plot time, roughly 100 years.
If no one complains they will grab em.
Regards the soldiers Grave, which council is it that is responsible for it, or maybe the local TV station.

[Gaille]

We have a problem with my grandads grave - not with HIS grave a such but with the one next to him.

The family planted a tree on the grave, I have no problem with that ........ but it has grown huge and is pushing over the small headstone on my grandads grave.

I have been into the office of the graveyard & asked them to do something about it, but their response is "its the grave owners responsibility" ....... but they cant give me the address of the grave owner, and wont write to them themselves ................ ok, so what do I do? write to the man in the grave for goodness sake?

I am not allowed to do anything with the tree, neither can the graveyard office ........... so I am stuck with a listing gravestone that we want to replace with a 'proper' one with both my grandparents names on now ............. but until this is sorted we cant, cos I dont want to pay and risk the headstone listing in the next few years.

I asked a Headstone mason to come & look - and he told me that he wouldnt be able to put a headstone up with the roots as they are - and if they damaged the roots fixing it an the tree became unstable WE (the company & my family) would be responsible !

Gaille

[Andi R]

Hmmmm I wonder if like trees and branches overgrowing and hanging over your property you can force the owners of the tree and that grave to do something with it at their expense

If it was your garden you are at liberty to cut back branches as long as you give the bits you cut off back to the owner

As for them not telling you, I think I'd be argueing that or using my local councillor and MP lets face it local councilors have nothing else to do

Get on to them, make them earn that vote and expenses

[Andi R]

Man of Kent

The War graves commission pays local authorities to take care of these graves and if they are not kept in the manner we would expect then I'd get in touch with them as well, they will contact the local authority as well but councillors, papers, and local TV always a good thing

I often visit graveyards and often seen war graves where any graves that can be easily seen are kept and a amistice day ceremony is held, but ones in other less visited are forgotten

It always upsets me when I see them, well kept or not, though I must say not as much as yesterday when I came across my first 'Iraq' casualty grave, talk about hitting home

[johngirl]

Hi all yes it is terrible that many of the graves are vandalised.

But on a good note. I recentley visited the Cornelain Bay Cemetery which is the main Cemetery in Hobart Tasmania which was opened in 1872. While there I noticed that a lot of the older graves with headstones which noone visits anymore due to no living relatives being around anymore ,that quite a few were broken in half or in quite a few peices and were neatly cemented back together. This I would say has been done by the Southern Regional Cemetery Trust who have taken over the upkeep of the Cemetery from the Local Council. I was very impressed by this.
Maybe every Cemetery needs a Cemetery Trust like the one we have here.
The grounds are always kept neat and tidy and it is a huge Cemetery. It is a pleasure to visit.
The only thing I can grumble about is the Pluvvers[birds] that build their nests near the graves and then get quite upset and dive bomb you when you come near their nests accidently
I have been chased a few times and had to run for my life.

  Johngirl

[GRACELAND]

 

I have been chased a few times and had to run for my life.

great foe wild life

[BumbleB]

Andrew R:

I think, although I could be totally wrong, that the CWGC only look after the official CWGC headstones, and the one shown in the photograph isn't one of those, I'm afraid, I think it's a private gravestone to someone who lost their life in battle.  All the official war graves are of the same basic design and are all white "Portland?" stone.

My grandfather is mentioned on the family grave in Yorkshire, but his official CWGC commemoration is on the Thiepval Memorial in France.

BumbleB

[Andi R]

BumbleB

Your probally correct

Theres a site http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?p=55, which shows me the one in Minto and its not a standard war Grave, but still a plain simple but poignant stone

Andrew