David Francis is a hands-on mason who has specialised for many years on the memorial side of the stone industry. He was Technical Advisor to the National Association of Memorial Masons, writing manuals and City & Guilds Qualifications. If you have an issue regarding any aspect of memorial masonry, David is happy to help. Send your questions or comments to David at nss@qmj.co.uk.

At the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL in April this year, I was pleased to talk to one of the people on the stand of the new Historic England organisation, which took over the role of offering advice and guidance on heritage on 1 April. The name of English Heritage is retained, but it is working towards becoming a self-financing charity looking after the English Heritage properties.

The people on the stand at the Stone Show gave me a bag containing some of their publications about stones. In the pack was the publication Caring for Historic Graveyard and Cemetery Monuments.

It is not a new guide – it was published in 2011, so is branded under the name of English Heritage, although Historic England says it remains its current advice and guidance and will in due course be re-branded under the name of Historic England. It is available free as a PDF, which you can download from the Historic England website at bit.ly/cemetery-care.

Caring for Historic Graveyard and Cemetery Monuments is a good, informative document. In 48 well illustrated pages it gives good advice on materials and some current fixing details. I reviewed the book some time ago, but I thought lately I would give it a second look.

The fact that this document is free from an organisation that commands a lot of respect contrasts with the British Standards Institute, whose standard for memorials, BS 8415, is certainly not free. Neither is the NAMM Code of Practice.

The grave is the resting place of the deceased and must be treated with respect. Also, the ownership of the grave must be clear before any work is contemplated. The owner may have legal rights over the grave, including the right of burial. If that right is exercised, any memorial will be removed for the burial and should be reinstated at a later date. Because of this it is important that permission is sought for any work on memorials, including cleaning. I feel this should be highlighted early in the publication.

Caring for Historic Graveyard and Cemetery Monuments explains about all types of burial grounds and the main materials we use. Surprisingly, Welsh slate is not mentioned – surprising because Welsh slate is extensively used for memorials and has been for centuries.

The section on deterioration of different stones is informative, as is the later section on the cleaning and restoration of the stones.

‘Legislation and Management’ deals with the inspection and assessment of memorials. The advice generally follows the Ministry of Justice guidance. The legal rights of the grave owner are not considered.

In the section called ‘Practical Treatment’ is a list of the chemicals that can be used for cleaning. An easy to understand diagram shows the different materials and the types of cleaning that could be applied.

I commend this booklet to all monumental masons, especially as the contents are used by a number of organisations which specify memorial work.

There are a few mistakes, but I am sure the next edition will correct that. It could have done with a memorial mason checking the detail before publication.

David Francis is a hands-on mason who ran a craft-based business in South London for many years. He moved out of London in the 1990s and since then has been concentrating on memorial masonry, being Technical Advisor and Trainer for the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) for several years, writing training manuals and City & Guild Qualifications. He has now left NAMM but would like to continue to advise and assist masons to help and improve skills in the sector.