Guidelines for Cemetery Conservation - National Trust of Australia

GUIDELINES FOR CEMETERY CONSERVATION
PART THREE - HOW
information in the form of maps, field books or certificates of title may be useful in
understanding the original planning of a cemetery, and should be consulted when planning a
conservation project.
1.2.3 Monuments and monumental groups
The main purposes of a cemetery monument are to mark and identify a grave and usually to
provide some information about the deceased. This information can be recorded on plans,
church registers, photographs and other records, but a monument is much more than this.
The furnishings of the grave, the ornamentation compared with other monuments, the
grouping of monuments -- by family, religion or other connections: all of these are
significant. As well, the original gravestones show developments in artistic fashion, use of
materials, and skill of artisans. The source of the stones may indicate changes in transport
routes.
For all of these reasons the National Trust advocates the retention of the original materials
and positioning of monuments, even where they are showing significant wear. Naturally,
deterioration of the monument should be slowed if possible, and the message of the
inscription should be retained (including known or assumed errors, if any). These can be
reproduced on site. However, replacing an original monument with a reproduction always
involves loss of information, and should be avoided. The fact that a monument is old and
worn is, in truth, a part of its value.
Monuments lose their context, such as family groupings, when herded into serried ranks
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