Old Burial Hill Committee Awarded Grant

At their monthly meeting last week, members of Marblehead's Old Burial Hill Committee announced the approval of an $11,000 grant from the state's Historical Commission.

The grant funding, which Town Planner Becky Curran said must be matched in local donations, will help with the group's ongoing effort to repair damaged headstones currently occupying the more than . 

Prior to applying for the grant, committee members compiled a 350-page report with the support of Building and Conservation Management of Arlington, which painted a picture of a historic cemetery in dire need of repairs.

Through the use of $18,000 in grant funding, committee members were able to hire the Arlington-based company to go through the cemetery stone-by-stone, photographing grave markers that date back to the late 1600s and creating a much-needed map of the 991 objects that exist on the grounds.

What the company found was that approximately 20 percent of the cemetery's headstones are in need of repair or some form of preventative maintenance. In order to prioritize the markers that need the most attention, the graves were broken into sub-groups: 31 are in need of urgent care, 42 were designated as less urgent and 119 need to be maintained to prevent problems in the future.

22 of the cemetery's original headstones have gone missing since a graveyard study was performed in 1998 - in the 57 years that had passed since an earlier study performed in 1941, only 50 had been reported missing.

The extensive restoration project will also require the removal of nearby trees and shrubs and the reconstruction of an old stone walkway leading visitors into the cemetery from the street.

In addition to damage done to the stones that remain, the report found that many of the cemetery's headstones have been either stolen or misplaced and have popped up in locations across the commonwealth. One of which was recently recovered after being discovered in Cambridge.

The funding, Curran said, must be used by June 2012 and the money is expected to be used to care for the "priority one" headstones.

"We are going to be taking care of the priority one stones and we will put that out to bid," Curran said, adding that finding someone qualified for delicate work such as this can be difficult because headstone restoration is such a unique trade.

Residents interested in contributing to the cause are encouraged to contact the committee members or representatives of the town's Historical Commission.