Headstones

[Cathy]

How are gravestones checked for safety and who should do these checks? How are they supposed to notify relatives? Finally, is it normal for notices to be stuck on gravestones with duct tape and for hazard tape to be stuck around them? Thanks.

[woofgang]

either the church or the council are responsible for graveyard safety, depending on whether it is a church or council graveyard. Once you know which it is, then you can take the matter up with them. Go to say it sounds a bit OTT unless there was an immediate serious problem

[spudqueen]

In Lancaster the council have recently been tested gravestones for safety. A notice was placed in the local newspaper to this effect. A notice with a contact telephone number is then stuck on any gravestone which is found to be not safe. My Aunt found that one of our relatives graves was one of those deemed to be unsafe, she contacted the council and a stone mason and has arranged for it to be put right.

Yes, I would say it is normal for notices to be stuck on with duct tape and hazard tape to be stuck around them. I know it doesn't look very nice but once the gravestone has been found to be unsafe the people in charge don't want any accidents as they would then be in the position where they could be sued. In Lancaster the owners have (I think) 1 year from the notice being placed on the gravestone to get it sorted out, so the tape etc will not be around for ever.

[Cathy]

Thing was we had no warning that this was happening and there seems no sense as to which headstones were picked out. It's not a large village, I don't understand why the Parish Council couldn't contact families direct rather than upsetting peoplewith notices saying they will knock down gravestones, so I just wondered where we stood.

[Grimalkin]

That is really insensitive of them Cathy, and I would be inclined to write a letter expressing this.  A similar thing has happened in the villages near me, but they have put a general warning notice on the graveyard gate rather than on the graves themselves, which seems a bit more appropriate.