Stroud Council organises headstone safety testing at St Cyr’s churchyard
Between 1979 and 2009 eight people in the UK were killed when a memorial fell on them, according to Ministry of Justice figures
Stroud District Council has organised a headstone safety test at St Cyr’s churchyard and has found 71 memorials in urgent need of repair.
As a result, the families of people who are buried in St Cyr’s churchyard have been asked to check whether their relatives’ memorials have been identified as unsafe.
Stroud District Council is responsible for approximately 2,000 memorial stones in one active cemetery and seven closed cemeteries in the Stroud district.
According to the council, responsibility for the maintenance of memorials lies with their owner – usually the closest family member of the deceased.
It stated that councils have a duty to ensure that cemeteries and graveyards for which they are responsible are safe and overtime memorials can become unstable and cause accidents.
To try to prevent this, most councils now test the safety of memorials at regular intervals.
Between 1979 and 2009 eight people in the UK were killed when a memorial fell on them, according to Ministry of Justice figures.
The memorials in most urgent need of repair have been made temporarily safe and a notice has been attached to all with information about the action needed. Where records exist, the owners have been contacted.
Safety testing at St Mary’s Church, Rodborough and Brimscombe Cemetery will be carried out later this year, with the remaining cemeteries tested as part of a five-year rolling plan.
Cllr Chloe Turner, Chair of SDC Environment Committee, said: “This is a sensitive, but necessary measure.
“We know that visiting the grave of a loved one is important for many of us, and we want to ensure the churchyards we are responsible for are safe for everyone to visit while showing respect to those who have passed.”