Conservation project launches to help preserve ‘table top’ tombs in churchyards

Pictured left to right: Adam Klups, Ben Burgis (BA student of Conservation of Wood, Stone and Decorative surfaces, City and Guilds of London Art School), Jasmine Pike (MSc student of Conservation Practice, Cardiff University), Billie Newton (BA student of Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Lincoln University) Graham O’Hare and Tracy Manning

A Church of England-backed conservation project has been launched to help with the preservation of thousands of stone monuments that feature in churchyards throughout the country.

There are believed to be more than 4,000 ‘table top’ tombs, many ornately carved, dating from the 17th to the 19th century, in Diocese of Gloucester churchyards alone, and many thousands more in churchyards across the country. The tombs are distinctive for their flat slab (the ‘table top’) supported by sides or upright legs.

A collaborative project based in the Diocese of Gloucester and supported by the Church of England’s Cathedral and Church Buildings team, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is assessing the conservation needs of the tombs. The project will contribute to new national guidance on the care and maintenance of the tombs.

The scheme is also providing vital fieldwork experience for students in conservation through work in St George’s Church in Cam, in the Diocese of Gloucester.

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

Adam Klups, Care of Churches and Diocesan Advisory Committee Team Leader at the Diocese of Gloucester, said a combination of factors including access to good quality limestone meant that the diocese had the highest concentration of the tombs in the country.

“Parochial Church Councils and other stakeholders responsible for the maintenance of our churchyards often struggle to find the resources to support the conservation of these tombs although they form a key part of our social history and are works of art in themselves,” he said.

“This project aims to document local collections of table top tombs, identify conservation needs, and promote awareness of this unique art form, with a view to drawing up national guidance and providing a training opportunity for the next generation of conservators.”

Tracy Manning, Senior Conservation Officer for the Cathedral and Church Buildings Department of the Church of England, said:

“It can be difficult for students to access hands-on fieldwork experience, and one of the most exciting things for us about the project is that it has enabled conservation students to learn from an expert practitioner, Graham O’Hare, about these unique objects that were made for, and belong in, a rural parish church setting.

“Sparking the interest of a new generation of conservators in the wonders of working in our churches is one of our primary aims and we are grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for enabling the project.”

Graham O’Hare, Architectural Stone Conservator, O’Hare Stone Conservation, said: “I am glad to have this opportunity to share some of my experience in assessing and conserving these monuments.

“They are a typical feature of Gloucestershire churchyards, with a variety of different types in different parts of the county.

“Every one is unique, with its own conservation issues, and they all deserve to be preserved for the future.”