Re Cleaning Gravestones !!

[Guy Etchells]

I'm with you Gracland No 2
Whats the point in having a stone if you cannot read it.
Wellie

I was not going to comment on this subject again but the above question keeps recurring.
The answer is very simple, a gravestone or grave marker as they used to be called marks the spot where a person is buried. Early markers carried no inscriptions and many where simply in the form of a mound or a pile of stones, gradually the idea of placing a wooden or stone marker at the head end of the plot developed but at first these were not engraved. It is only comparatively recently that gravestones have been engraved, most graveyards in England will contain a few stones which never bore an inscription.
Cheers
Guy

[GRACELAND]

 A . so why do we write information on a stone ?

  Answer ;so it can Be read by others passing !!

B. What happens if Moss etc grows over it ?

    Answer ; it become useless for its purpose of telling information

 So if it's useless  a ,why have Theses stones B,  Why not just have a meadow there  full of wild flowers that can Mowed Once or Twice a year !! 

 This would cut down on the cost of maintaining the Cem / church yard ect !!
 Easy to mow  than Dodging all these stone

         So may be now we should start a new poll  ,

                   WHY HAVE CEMETERIES  WHY NOT JUST A FEILD  !!

 Not that i agree on this at all but  we  Do need to see the Info on theGrave Or get rid of them as there no use then !!     

[bwgan ceredig]

I voted option 2, but I think...no I know, i would be very careful.  No scrubbing brushes and so on, just gentle removal of anything that obscures the wording.

We are having a bit of a family debate about graves.  I have a week off next week and want to go around the likely graveyards of my family.  My husband says it's too peculiar and certainly not suitable for the children.  I went once before with them when they were little and he claims that I have caused them irrepairable harm!!

He is only joking...I think.  My parents often used to show me interesting graves when I was a child and we are all fi...hm.  He might have a point after all!

Seriously, though - graves are so poignant, what IS the point if you can't read the inscription.  I certainly want mine to be read when the time comes.

[Guy Etchells]

A . so why do we write information on a stone ?

 Answer ;so it can Be read by others passing !!

B. What happens if Moss etc grows over it ?

 Answer ; it become useless for its purpose of telling information

 So if it's useless a ,why have Theses stones B, Why not just have a meadow there full of wild flowers that can Mowed Once or Twice a year !!

 This would cut down on the cost of maintaining the Cem / church yard ect !!
 Easy to mow than Dodging all these stone

 So may be now we should start a new poll ,

 WHY HAVE CEMETERIES WHY NOT JUST A FEILD !!

 Not that i agree on this at all but we Do need to see the Info on theGrave Or get rid of them as there no use then !!

There are many books and papers written on just that subject.
One of the main reasons for inscriptions on tombstone is as a release of the emotions of the partners or children of the deceased.
One may as well ask why coffin plates are inscribed when no one will see them after the coffin is buried.

The second part of your reply is far more alarming and in fact was how many thought in the 1960s when many graveyards were cleared of the bulk of memorials to allow the mechanical grass cutters room to work.
Others thought it was better to re-arrange the stones in a more ordered fashion and stones were removed from the graves they marked to allow the graveyard to be better aligned with the stones standing in order rather than marking the specific grave.

However on of the strongest reasons for not cleaning a gravestone is in most cases it belongs to someone else and you have no business touching it.
Cheers
Guy

[MarieC]

I have a couple of thoughts on this one:

1.  Firstly, I am strongly in favour of cleaning up family graves.  Here where I live, we have done two now.  The sites looked very shabby and unkempt before, and now they look as though someone cares about their ancestors.  Furthermore, the inscriptions give some valuable information about the people which we have incorporated into our research.

2.  The cemetery is becoming increasingly popular and a local historian does tours.  I know he sometimes stops at one of our graves, since gggrandmother was a prominent citizen.  The inscriptions are readable now for interested members of the public, and as above, I like to have the grave looking as though someone cares (which I do!) for other people to look at.

3.  When I was in England, I went looking for the only grave I believed I could find.  I found it OK, but it just had a wooden style monument which was rotting away, and any inscription had long since disappeared.  I was bitterly disappointed.  It really IS important that when descendants come looking, they should be able to find and read their ancestors' memorials.

MarieC

[GRACELAND]

  MarieC Well said

[Dimps]

I recently found a grave containing/referrring to a few ancestors, but could not read all the text.  I gently rubbed the inscription with a large chalk (the sort designed for toddlers) and stood slightly to the side so that the indentations were in shadow.  Hey presto!  A lovely clear reading was possible.  Having taken a digital photograph or two, I then poured a bottle of water over the chalk thus removing it without rubbing.  This was far more effective, and less potentially damaging, than cleaning up the stone.

Dimps

[celia]

Nick as you probably know i did/do M.I's (now in the Armed forces)I have tried to encourage people do M.I of Merchant seamen in there local cemetery.No one has taken me up on it yet.It took me three summers to get What i have, I was rewarded last week when a lady in Australia Joined Rootchat especially to contact me by P.M. To let me know that i had found her G.Grandfathers Grave. It was broken when it fell long ago,luckily she had a photo.She has other members in the same cemetery I now hope to find these graves,in fact i may have already seen them.This person is the first one to contact me in regard to the Merchant seaman M.I .I have thought many times i am wasting my time.No one will ever claim one.This person made my day The only reason i started was because both my grandfathers were Merchant sea men.One a Commander in The R.N.R.So you see it is rewarding in the end and i do enjoy doing it, even though  i sometimes wish i had the training of a trapeze artist

Celia

[Nick Carver]

Hi Celia - just noticed your reply. What a wonderful story.

One other point that suddenly occurred to me and that I feel I should share. Whilst it may look tempting to clear vegetation from graves and memorials, be very careful, especially where you are not just dealing with a simple headstone. The root system of a weed or plant will start to push a memorial apart and the simple act of removing it can cause serious damage. The correct treatment (if any is absilutely needed) is to apply weedkiller to the appropriate vegetation. If this succeeds in killing the target, then the memorial can recover gradually. Ivy can sometimes come away with the outer surface of the headstone, removing the inscription forever.