Careful conservation by Friends of Stoney Royd Cemetery is bringing names, inscriptions and Christian symbolism back into view.
Volunteers caring for Stoney Royd Cemetery in Halifax have revealed striking details on historic memorials after carefully removing years of moss and organic growth.
The work by Friends of Stoney Royd Cemetery has included memorials to Roman Catholic priests and members of the Passionist Sisters whose graves have been entrusted to the group’s care.
Krzysztof-Piotr (KP), chairperson and founder of the Friends, recently began treating some of the memorials after researching appropriate products and methods for cleaning historic stone.
Even he was surprised by the results.
“Wow,” was his immediate reaction as years of accumulated growth began to give way to inscriptions, carvings and religious symbols which had become difficult to see.
Details returning to view
The transformation is particularly striking on the memorials of the Passionist Sisters.
Names and dates are once again clearly visible, along with the distinctive Passionist emblem and the words Jesu XPI Passio — referring to the Passion of Jesus Christ.
On the memorials of priests elsewhere in the cemetery, cleaning has also begun to reveal Christian imagery which had been obscured by organic growth, including chalices and representations of the sacrificial lamb.
These are more than decorative details. They were deliberately carved into the memorials generations ago as expressions of Christian faith and, in the case of the chalice, of lives given to the service of the Church through the ministerial priesthood.
Weather and organic growth gradually concealed much of that craftsmanship. Careful conservation is now allowing it to be seen again.
Conservation, not making the old new
The Friends are clear that the purpose of the work is not to make historic memorials appear new.
As KP puts it simply:
“They’re old. They should look old.”
Instead, the aim is to care appropriately for the stones and, where possible, remove what has accumulated upon them without erasing the signs of their age.
Some of the memorials will require further careful treatment before the work is complete. It is deliberately a gradual process rather than one to be rushed.
The approach reflects the wider purpose of the Friends of Stoney Royd Cemetery: “Honouring the Past. Caring for the Present. Preserving for the Future.”
Each recovered inscription makes another name easier to read. Each revealed carving allows the work of a long-dead craftsperson to be appreciated again. And each restored detail helps tell something of the people and communities whose history is held within the cemetery.
A quiet moment among the graves
There was also an unexpected moment during the morning’s work.
As KP worked among the memorials, two robins appeared and perched on crosses nearby.
There is, of course, no need to attach any particular significance to their appearance. But in the quiet of an old cemetery, while Christian symbols hidden for years were slowly emerging again, it provided a memorable moment.
Sometimes coincidence is quite enough.
For Stoney Royd, the significance of the conservation work is much more tangible.
The names were always there. The carvings were always there. The stories were always there.
They had simply become harder to see.
Now, with careful hands and patient work, a little more of Stoney Royd’s history has come back into the light.
Find out more
Friends of Stoney Royd Cemetery works to care for, preserve and share the history of Stoney Royd Cemetery in Halifax.
For further information and updates on the Friends’ work, visit their Facebook group.
