Education & Training

There are very few opportunities to gain knowledge and acquire training regarding gravestone and monument conservation. The workshops which are available may be located at a considerable distance away. This makes it cost prohibitive for most groups, and limits the attendance to one or maybe two members. Most workshops will overview a few basic technique, but may not include the specific answers needed to get started or effectively plan a preservation project in your town or cemetery.

Jonathan Appell of New England Cemetery Services can come to your cemetery or graveyard and effectively quip, train and mobilize your staff or group of volunteers to perform basic preservation procedures. I will use your local burying ground, to demonstrate and perform treatments, for all of the most common gravestone and monument preservation dilemmas, including cleaning, resetting tilted stones and rejoining fractured tablet stones which are so common throughout many parts of America.

I encourage photographing, taping, or filming important steps and procedures to provide a reference for future training or review. More advanced skills and techniques can also be overviewed or instructed, if the need exists, and time allows.

In the process of training your local group we will actually be restoring your local cemetery. Each stone we fix will diminish the future number of gravestones or monuments remaining to be conserved.

If you are unable or not ready to actually begin the preservation procedures, we can survey the grounds and plan for your future preservation project. I also provide training to enable your local group to survey the markers and monuments and learn to perform a accurate individual stone assessment. This is of paramount importance due to the constant loss of inscription and degradation of many gravestones. A proper documentation form including a photograph will allow future generations to view a gravestone and understand its history even if the actual stone is destroyed.

For more information or to schedule a gravestone conservation workshop or training session, you can contact New England Cemetery Services by using our online contact form, by email, or call (860) 558-2785.