Recently, I had the privilege of participating in a workshop hosted by the Stanley-Whitman House at the Momento Mori Cemetery in Farmington, Connecticut. I had been planning a trip to New England and was really lucky to find this workshop happening on the weekend I was planning to go. Many of the cemeteries in my area have headstones that are overgrown with lichen and moss, and I've wanted to get some hands-on experience cleaning headstones in a safe way that doesn't threaten the stone or cause any damage.
At the workshop, we learned about the work that the Stanley-Whitman house is doing to preserve the cemetery, as well as the history of the site, and information about prominent individuals buried there. Ruth Shapleigh Brown from the Connecticut Gravestone Network was there to talk about cemetery conservation, and teach us how to clean a headstone.
I chose the headstone of Susanah Woodruff, who passed away in 1748, to practice on. Below, you can see what the headstone looked like beforehand.
As you can see, the stone is covered in growth, and difficult to read. To begin, I wet the stone using a water pump. As Ruth said, the more water the better, so I made sure the stone was wet down completely before starting. Next, I used a plastic scraper to get rid of any larger pieces of lichen. After removing as much of the growth as possible, I took a scrub brush and started to scrub away anything that was left. In the picture below, you'll see what the stone looked like halfway through the process.
As you can see, the soul effigy quickly became more visible. You may notice the crack on the right shoulder of the stone. I was careful during this process not to touch this part, as it was fragile, and I didn't want to cause any more damage.
The end result was super satisfying, and Susanah's grave went from nearly indecipherable to crystal clear. The best part is, the process works well either with water or D2. Moving forward, I want to try and clean up any headstones I can within the burying grounds I work in, but only after getting permission from whoever manages the sites, and making sure the work is necessary and desired.
I'm very grateful to the Stanley-Whitman House and the Connecticut Gravestone Network for running programs that allow people to learn how to safely clean these artifacts, without damaging the stones.
Alyssa,
This is absolutely astounding. Thank you for sharing. By cleaning a stone this way, you are honoring and prolonging the memory of this person’s existence on earth. Of course, the historical value of the carving and artistic style are preserved as well. There must be thousands of stones like this one, and perhaps you can train others to assist you in this preservation effort. It sounds like it was a worthwhile workshop. Just the fact that someone cares is remarkable.