Graveyard Recording

[drpeterwardle]

Last year I asked the Britarch list if anybody knew of any examples of where the gravemarkers in a graveyard had been recorded and analysed. Very few such studies have been published.

A number of years ago I did such a study and a draft of the report can be found on:
http://historicenvironment.co.uk/index.php/stratford

It will be published shortly.

If anybody is willing to act as a specialist reader I would be grateful!

Peter Wardle

[harleyb]

Studied with Mytum in Wales, would gladly review!

harley

[BAJR Host]

Nice one Peter... will look forward to the review and final publication

“When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend.”
William Blake

[Wibblehead]

I love graveyard surveys. :face-approve:

We've done a couple of them, and possibly doing another this year. In both instances we mapped the graveyards with a total station, numbering each of the graves and noting basic details. Local community groups have then been recording the information on the graves, and doing the condition surveys themselves. I *think* the one we're almost certainly doing this year will mean we will do the map, recording, and condition survey.

The subject matter of your report is pretty familiar to me, and your report looks fascinating. Though I certainly wouldn't consider myself a specialist!

We've never done analysis of the grave markers themselves, though maybe we should think about it. I'll sit down and have a proper read of the report in a bit, and I'll send the link to our mapping specialist too, tho he is away until next week.

Em

~~~~~
Thunder rolled. ... It rolled a six.

[Mark Adams]

I've just started a graveyard project in Merseyside working with the local society and a University CE dept. So I was interested to see your report as I'd been able to find very little published, the few locally available surveys seemed to be largely concerned with plotting inscriptions rather than attempting a more synthetic study. At the moment we're just looking at a single site, though I'm hoping it'll develop into a wider study and run over several years.

I based the recording system on the CBA's but came to very similar conclusions to yours about the numerical coding. I ditched it because it seemed over complex and too prone to transcription errors, either in the field or during data entry. I've adapted it to a text based system for input to an ACCESS database, but I tried to keep most of the features of the CBA scheme. We're using a similar system of photography to yours but with no plans for photogrammetry (yet) as it's an amateur group with very limited photography and IT experience.

I'll happily give your report a more thorough read and pass on comments, though I wouldn't call myself a specialist.

Mark Adams

[Gilraen]

That's interesting - I, too, also studied under Mytum and did a graveyard survey as part of my degree. I found it very interesting, and would love to do more. Would be useful for genealogists too, as well, methinks.

[Bier Keller]

On a daily basis we try and save and record our heritage. I despair at some of things that get destroyed on a daily basis in the name of progress but I accept that as archaeologists this is part and parcel of our game - but that is not what this thread is about. What I think is appropriate on this thread though is to ask why no action is ever taken against local councils who insist that sometimes even fairly recent tombstones are a H&S risk and set about laying them down, - often not too carefully either. This is officially sanctioned vandalism. When I worked for a particular unit in Newcastle we had an office in a cemetary (council building and all that) and it was heartbreaking to these vandals trashing gravestones.These were I think mainly C19th and later but I have seen similar acts against older stones in Edinburgh. I don't know the full details of what prompted these acts, I only heard that a few years back some kid was doing mischief in Sunderland and the stone he was trashing fell on top of him. Scratch one misunderstood little darling.

If contractors can be done for trashing sensitive remains, why not councils? This is not only a disgrace in heritage terms but in ethics as well - there has been plenty of debate recently about our treatment of the dead...surely the way we respect (or not) our more recently departed is worthy of the same?

Beer is your friend

[thalinor]

Probably a bit late on this one. I too too studied under Mytum and worked for him in Ireland (99-04?). Did my undergraduate dissertation on ideology and iconographies in irish graveyards. Interesting subject though sadly I do not do anything at all these days. *sigh*