Monuments 'deserve to be preserved for the future'

The team at Gloucester Table Top Tomb Conservation Project is working to preserve thousands of stone monuments

A conservation project to help preserve thousands of stone monuments in churchyards has been launched.

Gloucester Table Top Tomb Conservation Project, backed by the Church of England's Cathedral and Church Building's Team, found there are more than 4,000 table top tombs in Diocese of Gloucester churchyards alone.

Architectural Stone Conservator Graham O'Hare said: "Every one is unique, with its own conservation issues, and they all deserve to be preserved for the future."

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting the project, with findings contributing to new national guidance on the care and maintenance of the tombs.

Mr O'Hare said each monument is unique and deserves to be preserved for the future

Eight other churchyards, including one in the Diocese of Oxford - St James the Great, Fulbrook - are taking part.

The tombs date back to the 17th to 19th Century and are recognisable for their flat slab table top, and upright supports.

Adam Klups, care of churches and diocesan advisory committee team leader in Gloucester, said a combination of factors including access to good quality limestone meant the diocese had the highest concentration of the tombs in the country.

It can be a struggle to find the resources to support their conservation, even though they form a "key part of our social history and are works of art in themselves," he said.

Tracy Manning, senior conservation officer for the cathedral and church buildings department of the Church of England said: "One of the most exciting things about the project is that it has enabled conservation students to learn from an expert practitioner, Graham O'Hare."

Mr O'Hare said the tombs are a "typical feature of Gloucestershire churchyards", and he is glad to share some of his experience in assessing and conserving the monuments.