Council to conduct safety checks on 17,000 gravestones
Released: 13 July 2007
Inspections of thousands of gravestones around Wolverhampton begin next month.
The work is being carried out by Wolverhampton City Council to ensure all 17,000 upright headstones and other memorials located in the city’s cemeteries are safe.
The work is part of a ‘safety charter’ for local cemeteries drawn up by bereavement officers in response to the national issue of unstable gravestones.
Steve Wright, Wolverhampton’s Bereavement Services Manager, said: “The relatively few reported accidents involving memorials in cemeteries across the country have primarily been related to inadequate maintenance of headstones.
“Whilst there is a very low risk of injury to people who visit the graves of their loved ones, we cannot be complacent about this issue.”
An initial check of memorials in cemeteries around Wolverhampton in 2005 found 446 headstones were ‘highly unstable’. They have since been made safe.
Work to check all the headstones systematically begins next month to ensure that Wolverhampton’s seven cemeteries are safer places for the public to visit. Beacon Hill Cemetery will be inspected during August, followed by Bilston in September, Merridale in October and Bushbury, Danescourt, Penn and Hall Green thereafter. It is anticipated the work will be completed well before Christmas.
Any memorials that are found to be potentially dangerous will be fitted with a temporary metal safety support with a note of explanation. The council will then arrange for - and fund the cost of - the repair of the headstone, without relatives having to get involved. A few older or kerb type memorials may have to be laid flat on the ground pending a more permanent solution.
Measures have also been taken to ensure that all new headstones are installed to revised safety standards and Mr Wright added: “We are committed to managing our cemeteries both with sensitivity and safety in mind and memorial inspections are an essential element to this commitment.”
Issued by the press office.