On Saturday Morning 18th April 2026, at St Peter and Paul’s Church, Skendleby, David and Veronica Stonehouse held a workshop entitled: –
How to read and record a churchyard: A beginner’s guide to recording memorials
A grave event! Learn how to record the inscriptions and interpret the gravestones.
We began in the church where David showed us the aims of the morning, then we had a trial run recording the details of the Memorials on the inside walls of the church. We then had a walk around the graveyard with David and Veronica pointing out the shape, material and script on some of the gravestones and what we should be looking for and how to describe them. After a short break for a hot drink, we were shown how the inscription on the stones can sometimes be made clearer to read e.g. by cleaning the surface with brush that will not damage the stones, applying a light coat of talc to show up the writing. It worked surprisingly well as you can see the in a couple of the photos.
It was very interesting and informative, and we were lucky it was a warm sunny morning out in the fresh air. Many thanks to David and Veronica for your time and knowledge.
