Nigel · Buildwas Holy Trinity Church
As part of our restoration project at Buildwas Holy Trinity Church (more details at www.buildwaschurchrestoration.org), we are aiming to record, store and share the history of the people buried at our church, including some (such as our own Rev. John Bartlett – who was our vicar for nearly 40 years) who had close connections with the Ironbridge Gorge and ironmakers such as the Darby family.
We have therefore joined the Caring for God’s Acre (CfGA) ‘Our Digital Ancestors’ Project: www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/our-digital-ancestors. This National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England funded project aims to record details of all visible monuments in a churchyard, including:
• a photo
• details of names and dates of those memorialised
• scans of birth, death and marriage registers
• the wording of the inscription on the gravestone / monument / tomb
• the monument shape, stone type and condition.
Where we have them, we’d also add scans of photos, articles from old newspapers or extracts of written material. Once complete, these churchyard plans will be openly available for anyone to look at and explore online, shared via our Restoration Project website. This will support local historians and those tracing their family history.
We have so far created a digital map of our churchyard ready for adding information about our graves and memorials, and have a volunteer ready to do research and record the data electronically. Could you spare a few hours of your time to volunteer for this project by recording the information from our graves, tombs and memorials? Or do you know anyone or any organisations who could help? If so, please get in touch.
CfGA will provide free online training, including:
– Burial ground Health & Safety
– Memorial photography skills
– Memorial recording skills
– Researching people from a burial ground
Please log in to match with this request.