Lorely Listens

Written by Lorely Burt MP and published in Solihull Observer on Wed 18th Oct 2006

A cemetery may be a place for the dead, but it is a highly significant place for many of the living who visit to remember and honour their loved ones. So any disturbance to the tranquillity, let alone to the memorial stone, is bound to be upsetting.

The cemetery authorities have been testing the safety of gravestones recently, and as soon as they find an unsafe stone they are obliged to make it safe. The method chosen in Solihull involves putting a wooden stake behind the stone and fixing the stone to it while relatives are found to make good the unsafe stone.

This has upset some relatives who felt their loved one's stone was desecrated by being interfered with in this way. Their upset was increased by learning that they were liable for the cost of making the stone safe again.

The story behind the unsafe stones turns out to be often one of shoddy workmanship on behalf of the stone masons who erected the stones.

Fifty years ago and earlier, memorial stones either had one third buried in the ground or were erected with a dowel which connected the stone through the slab on which it stood into the earth below.

More recently some stone masons have taken the easy option of fixing the stone to the slab with a bit of cement. With no work guarantee they could then be absolved of any responsibility if the stone became unsafe.

I went along to Robin Hood Cemetery to see for myself. When cemetery Superintendent Gordon Hull showed me just how rocky some of the stones were I was shocked.

Solihull cemeteries have now taken the matter into their own hands and for the last two years have refused to allow any memorial stone to be erected without a dowel fixing it safely. And the National Association of Memorial Masons are implementing a registration scheme which will require all registered members to offer a 30 year guarantee on the safety of their stones.

Cemetery authorities can then require any stone mason erecting stones in their cemetery to be registered, thus saving the onus (and the cost) being thrust on unsuspecting relatives.

Not all stone masons have been guilty of this shoddy practise, but if you find yourself in the situation of having to make a relative's stone safe I suggest you go first to the mason who supplied the stone and ask them to make it safe. Honourable ones may well agree to do this for nothing: guarantee or no.

If they refuse, make sure you get at least three quotes for the work: quotes vary from just over £100 to over £300. And if you are buying a headstone for a loved one, check if the stone mason offers a 30 year guarantee: many don't but soon they will all have to.

And if you have a family memorial stone in a Solihull cemetery and you haven't seen it recently, it's worth checking to see if your loved one's stone is one of those affected.