Page 3 - Historic Churches 2013

BCD Special Report on Historic Churches 20th annual edition 3 CATHEDRALC O M M U N I C A T I O N S
to the site’s visual character. In fact, because
their importance is not fully appreciated,
such features are especially vulnerable.
Our understanding of the types of graveyard
features we might expect to find is improved
by identifying the type of burial site we are
looking at (churchyard, cemetery, family
burial ground, etc) and then comparing it
to similar sites in the locality and beyond.
UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION
OF THE GRAVEYARD
Stevenson describes the history of Greyfriars
but he also touches on the historic social
and cultural circumstances that helped to
shape gravestone designs, such as attitudes
towards death and Scottish stone-carving
traditions. Today, our understanding of
a graveyard’s development would also
embrace evidence not so readily apparent
to Stevenson. This includes information
drawn from the below-ground archaeological
record or held in documentary sources.
Records may help to illuminate how
a site once looked, was used or perceived
and the relationships between its features.
Documentary evidence can cover many
different topics including consecration
practices, areas for particular types of
burial or changes in ownership. Examples
of archaeological evidence include not only
human remains, but also material associated
with earlier buildings, buried tombstones or
remains associated with a different, earlier use
of a site. It is every bit as important to protect
below-ground evidence through graveyard
management as the above-ground fabric.
ASSOCIATIVE VALUES
Graveyards offer evidence of identifiable
individuals from the past so they are rich in
associative values. People may attach values
to historic graveyards for different reasons,
ranging from personal connections (as in
the case of family history) to meanings
shared by groups, where different levels of
importance might be ascribed to the same
heritage value. Greyfriars, for example, is
especially important to some visitors as a
focus of Covenanter history. Around 1,200
followers of this Presbyterian movement
were imprisoned in an area of the churchyard
in the late 17th century and it is the site of
the early 18th-century Martyrs’ Monument,
which commemorates those who died for the
Covenanter cause. Stevenson also describes
how the tomb of one notorious figure from
this period (Sir George ‘Bluidy’ Mackenzie)
entered into local folklore – schoolboys
tested their mettle by daring to knock at its
door and challenge his ghost to appear.
Understanding the associations that
link a graveyard to people, places or events
helps us to reflect both on why Stevenson
was sufficiently moved to write about this
particular churchyard and on the subsequent
value that we place on its cultural connections.
In the case of Greyfriars this pits Stevenson’s
reputation against that of Greyfriars Bobby,
the famous Skye terrier said to have guarded
his owner’s grave there for 14 years.
Engaging with the people who visit
a historic graveyard and asking them to
explain how they see the site’s importance
can help to identify those ‘evidential values’
that illuminate the significance of its natural
history, genealogy, local history, geology,
art, architecture and other special interest
areas. Talking to visitors can also reveal how
visitors connect with the graveyard simply as
an attractive open space and local amenity.
SETTING PRIORITIES
Stevenson’s account does not consider the future
of Greyfriars. Yet this is the most critical issue
we contend with today for historic graveyards.
There are limited resources available to maintain
and preserve these sites so efforts should be
targeted on the basis of both significance and
risk. The increasing recognition of the cultural
and natural value of these sites also brings
with it the danger of uninformed intervention,
where even the smallest actions can irrevocably
alter a site’s character and integrity. Change
is best made once we have documented
what is at a graveyard, determined which of
these features might be valuable and why.
Evaluating the relative importance of
different areas enables priorities to be set
for a graveyard’s future care. For example,
perhaps the mature trees that contribute to a
graveyard’s biodiversity and amenity values
are now obscuring an important view from
the site and undermining the stability of
the surrounding gravestones, one of which
commemorates a locally important figure.
If this site is to be managed in a balanced
way, the relative importance of each of these
areas of value needs to be weighed and a
decision made about what to protect.
It is also important to recognise that
all graveyards are unique. Each has its own
history, character and associations with a
particular place and people, and therefore
has values that require protection.
RESOURCES
In Scotland over the past 15 years the
knowledge and skills that underpin graveyard
conservation management have been
advanced by both published guidance and
the experience gained through project work.
Historic Scotland’s Practitioner’s Guide to the
Conservation of Historic Graveyards (2001)
sets out comprehensive advice on routine
maintenance and repairs. The Carved Stones
Adviser Project (2001–06) developed a wide
range of materials to support the documenting
and recording of graveyards. More recently, the
Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership
commissioned a conservation strategy for rural
graveyards that piloted a recording system to
document and assess a graveyard’s cultural and
natural values. This assessment can be used to
create conservation and activity action plans.
Several other projects have developed
their own surveys to set regional priorities
for carrying out conservation work and
enhancing maintenance routines, including the
Aberdeenshire Historic Kirkyards Project and
Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust’s Historic
Churchyard’s project. The recent appointment
of a development officer for five graveyards
within the Edinburgh World Heritage Site aims
to ensure that the management of urban burial
grounds is led by an integrated approach.
Experience has shown that 15 years is a
relatively short period of time to begin to get
to grips with sites which are such complex
heritage assets. Useful future work might
include developing a better understanding
of graveyard chronologies and the material
variation that exists for different periods,
site types and regions. Also, if we evaluate
and monitor the actions and activities
delivered through project work we can
better identify and disseminate best practice.
(See Further Information for details of the
resources described in this section.)
Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh c1857: Greyfriars was recently included in a study carried out for the World
Monuments Fund and Edinburgh World Heritage which aimed to identify strategic options for the future
management of five historic graveyards in Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site.