Page 6 - Historic Churches 2013

6 BCD Special Report on Historic Churches 20th annual edition CATHEDRALC O M M U N I C A T I O N S
CHURCHYARD
MONUMENTS
Sally Strachey
Churchyards provide access to
a unique combination of fascinating
and varied historic monuments, a
record of the social history of the community
and a rich diversity of plant and animal life.
They are a safe haven for distinctive and
ancient trees and are home to a wide range
of mosses, lichens and ferns. Churchyards
also provide tranquil green spaces for quiet
reflection and provide invaluable resources
for community involvement and learning.
Increasingly recognised as important public
spaces in both rural and urban landscapes,
their care and maintenance is now considered
alongside that of the churches they serve.
The increasing use of churchyards as
community spaces has resulted in a heightened
awareness of the health and safety issues
associated with churchyard monuments,
especially those in a poor state of repair. This
in turn raises issues relating to the ownership
of these spaces and determining where the
responsibility lies for making them safe for
the public. English Heritage has provided a
thorough analysis of every aspect of churchyard
care and maintenance in Caring for Historic
Graveyard and Cemetery Monuments (2011).
This article looks at some of the primary
decay mechanisms responsible for undermining
the structural stability of churchyard
monuments and includes a case study that
demonstrates some of the solutions.
PRIMARY DECAY MECHANISMS
Given their setting, it is unsurprising that
vegetation is one of the chief culprits in the
destabilisation and collapse of churchyard
monuments. Ivy and other types of woody
growth will grasp any opportunity to invade
stonework until monuments often disappear
completely beneath an exuberant display of
greenery and twisted branches. As the growth
takes hold the sections of the monument are
pushed apart and the foundations compromised.
The next culprit, subsidence, is also closely
associated with the setting. Churchyards
develop over many centuries and the pattern
of burials will often cause monuments
to sink and tilt. This causes compression
A chest tomb on the point of collapse at Bitton Churchyard, South Gloucestershire