Reassurance Over Scarborough Borough Headstone Checks

The borough council has responded to national media coverage of it's safety checks on memorial headstones.

Scarborough Borough Council announced in June that it would be performing a "sensitive audit of memorial headstones" in the older sections of Woodlands cemetery in Scarborough.

The council said that the audit was being done to check the headstones are stable and don’t pose a safety risk to people who visit the cemeteries or their staff working in them.

Inspections are also planned but yet to begin in the council's other two cemeteries.

In it's latest residents news letter the council has responded to what it describes as

"very misleading stories in the national press and on national radio recently"

The council says :

"In contrast to how the story was portrayed in the media, no headstones have been damaged by our staff or contractors.

The stones are not “pushed over” but if they pose an immediate safety risk they may be carefully laid down and positioned face up so that the inscription can still be read.

The small signs attached to the headstones advise people to contact us if they have any queries.  We do our very best to place the signs without obscuring the memorial text.

We do not charge any fees for repair.  Stone mason fees may vary and any recent stones (within the last 10 years) should still be under warranty from the stonemason and be made safe free of charge."

The council says that communications about the work were carried out from early June. This included putting up signs throughout the cemeteries, which are still in place, an article in the June edition of council newsletter, a news release sent to print, online and broadcast media and information booklets at local stonemasons.

• RELATED STORIES : Inspections to Check Scarborough and Whitby Memorial Stones for Stability

The council says it also added a digital version of the booklet to it's website and put information on it's social media channels.

The council say:

"We also wrote directly to owners of graves that were deemed unsafe.  Our records show a letter was issued in respect of the grave mentioned in a story in the Daily Telegraph.

We’d like to bust a couple of what we’ll politely call myths that appeared in the media headlines.

“Scarborough Council purged 50,000 headstones across three cemeteries”.

This is not true.  Our memorial booklet refers to the existence of 50,000 memorials throughout our three cemeteries.  In time these will all have to be inspected but we have only conducted inspections of 1386 headstones to date.  Out of those 1386, only 110 have been carefully laid down.

“Mourners are furious after a council removed thousands of headstones in a row over health and safety”.

This is not true.  The word “removed” implies they were taken away. We have not removed headstones.  They have been sensitively laid down on their existing plot.  We have not laid down “thousands” of headstones, only 110.

In the information release by the council in June it said that

"All types of memorials higher than 18 inches (approximately 45.5cm) will be checked for stability at Dean Road & Manor Road and Woodlands cemeteries in Scarborough and Larpool cemetery in Whitby.

The inspections will be carried out on the council’s behalf by a qualified contractor.

A visual test of each memorial will take place to look for cracks, unsecure joints and unstable foundations. A gentle hand push test, carried out sensitively, will also be used to identify any movement between the different parts of the memorial.

Test results will be recorded. Safe memorials will be flagged for inspection again in five years’ time.

Memorials that are recorded unsafe, will immediately be carefully staked and banded to make them safe. A notice will be placed by the memorial stating the reason for staking and who to contact for further information. The contractor will also inform the council’s bereavement services team so they can get in touch with the last known grave owner.

Only when absolutely necessary will a memorial be laid flat.

It is anticipated the council’s contractor will complete his work by the end of March 2023, at the latest.

Owners of unsafe memorials will be given time to make the required repairs. This will be three months for staked memorials and six months for those laid flat."