At every graveyard across the UK, countless headstones are crumbing into disrepair. Many are overgrown with moss or ivy, whilst others have been broken down by the weather, their inscriptions obscured by the passage of time.
As a result, scores of well-meaning tributes to the long departed are no longer readable, where the lives that these memorials once commemorated have now faded completely from living memory.
But if you happen to uncover the name and burial site of a distant relative, then it can be meaningful and beneficial to restore their headstone to its former glory. Doing so can forge a connection between the present and the distant past, helping to ensure that important stories from long ago are not forgotten.
Read on to find out more about the benefits of restoring an ancestor’s headstone.
Historical Preservation
When you repair and restore a worn headstone, you are carrying out a tangible act of historical preservation. Seeing the dates of someone’s life and maybe their cause of death can tell an important story from a different age, where you will be preserving a window into a long lost era that we may know little about.
Learning Opportunities
Once you’ve restored a gravestone, the information that the inscription offers up may inspire you to conduct further research into your ancestors. Perhaps their cause or time of death sparks curiosity, where archives and public records could help you to build a clearer picture of the kind of life your distant relatives lived.
Familial Connections
If you do find a memorial stone that belongs to a distant relative, then this may make you feel more connected to your living family members, as you share what you have uncovered. Further to this, you may feel a sense of familial duty when it comes to restoring the headstone, as you ensure that an old inscription can still be read as it was intended to be.
Community Benefits
As gravesites are often filled with overgrown and broken headstones, taking the opportunity to restore one can have positive effects for the whole community. Restored memorials make an entire graveyard look better cared for, helping grieving loved ones to feel like this is a place where the living still feel connected to their dearly departed.
Stewarton Memorials: Offering Professional Gravestone Restoration Services
At Stewarton Memorials, we can restore headstones that have fallen into disrepair, allowing you to reignite a connection to the distant past.
Our memorial restoration work includes:
● Gravestone cleaning services
● Headstone lettering restoration
● Re-erecting of unsafe memorials
● Additional inscriptions
With years of experience in headstone restorations, our expert team can have your loved one’s grave looking brand new. Get in touch with us today to find out more.
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