Preserving the Past: A Closer Look at Copp’s Hill Gravestone Conservation

Have you been to Copp’s Hill Burying Ground recently and noticed that things looks different but you’re not quite sure why? The answer lies in a major gravestone conservation and resetting project that took place between 2018 and 2024. Read the latest blog post from Kelly Thomas, Director of Boston Parks and Recreation's Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.

There are approximately 2,230 grave markers over 2.04 acres in this site. Many gravestones were suffering from various problems due to their age and their exposure to the weather. Due to the high number of gravestones that required repair, we decided to make this a multi-phase project. The site is broken down into sections designated by a letter. For phase one, we addressed stones in sections C, G, H, and I. In phase two we worked on stones in sections, A, B, D, E, and F. The only section that remains to be done is section J, which is the most modern section in the site, accessed by a small staircase.

To start the project, I surveyed all the gravestones in these sections, noting which stones required work and indicating the specific problems that needed to be addressed. I put these details into a spreadsheet listing the gravestone, location number, name, date of death, conditions present, required treatment, and other notes. I also took a photograph of each gravestone and labeled it with the location number. This material would be used as part of the construction documents that would be included in the public bid for a conservator. I hired a stone conservation specialist to update the technical specifications that I would also include in the bid package. In total I selected 135 grave markers to be conserved in the phase one project and 143 markers in phase two. Additionally for the first phase I estimated that 60 additional gravestones would need to be reset because they were tilting, had fallen over, or had sunk low into the ground but did not require additional conservation treatments. I greatly increased the number of resetting-only (no conservation) gravestones to 400 in phase two due to the excellent results obtained in phase one. The number of gravestones to be treated and those to be reset only was increased with change orders during both projects due to conditions that were discovered during the construction phase of the projects. Some of the reasons for the change orders included conditions that were discovered in the bottom part of the headstone that was previously underground and the discovery of many gravestone fragments underground that could sometimes be matched to other stones or reset as is.

Adequate funding is a key aspect of any project. We were fortunate to receive grant funding in both projects from the Community Preservation Act (CPA). We received a grant of $104,400 for the first phase and $100,000 for the second phase. The total cost of first project (including CPA funding) was $267,000. The total cost of the second project was $472,280. The cost of phase two was significantly higher than phase one for two reasons: there were more gravestones in the sections addressed in phase two and the project occurred after the Covid period when prices on everything dramatically increased.  

Gravestone conservation in any site is tricky. There is no electricity or running water in the historic burying grounds. If one can overcome these obstacles it is possible to perform the conservation treatments outside but this tends to yield inferior results due to varying climatic conditions and the presence of particles in the air (dust, pollen, insects, etc.) outside. The Boston Parks and Recreation Department greatly prefers to have this work done in the controlled atmosphere of a conservation studio, which the conservator did in these projects. 

Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is more challenging than most sites because of the difficulty of access. The site is surrounded on three sides by masonry walls topped with cast-iron fences, and by buildings on the fourth side. The only access to the site is through two pedestrian entrances with several steps each. The streets in the North End are narrow and congested and there is no place to temporarily park to load up with gravestones. Contractor parking is allowed in Copp’s Hill Terrace, the park across the street from the Burying Ground, but there is an additional set of stairs to access the Terrace. The gravestones are placed close together in narrow rows. They must be carefully removed from the ground and transported by hand to a vehicle and back into the site when they are reset. In addition to the nearly 400 gravestones that had to be transported to the conservation studio, the conservator was tasked with removing and re-setting over one thousand markers, some which weigh over 200 pounds. A special lifting apparatus was fabricated for this purpose.

The conservator is required to submit a final treatment report at the end of the project, providing detailed information about each gravestone that required treatment, including the description of the problems treated and the materials used on that stone. It also contains before, during, and after photographs. 

There are many different conditions that can be present on a gravestone. These conditions are described in the following explanation excerpted from the final treatment report by Daedalus, Inc., the conservator, for the second phase of the project:

• Surface condition: The markers were covered with a layer of particulate matter, accretions, and/or biological soiling.

• Surface delamination up to 3mm: fine layers of stone cleave away from the rest of the stone along the strata. This usually occurs on the front and/or back of the stone and can result in loss or flaking of carved surface

• Surface delamination greater than 3mm: thicker layers of stone separate from each other along the strata. This usually occurs along a vertical plane, towards the center of the stone. The separation lines can be seen on the top and sides of the gravestone. It can result in steep v-shaped valleys or in a complete break. The valleys trap dirt/ debris and provide space for biological growth, including roots of plants. Water also collects in these cracks and exacerbates the delamination through freeze/thaw cycles.

• Losses:  Sections of original material were missing, ranging from flakes on the surface to larger dimensional pieces. Shallow surface losses generally appear to have resulted from delamination. Larger dimensional losses include missing “shoulders” and appear to be the result of physical damage, perhaps from falling over or being hit by a tree limb. Care was taken to search the surrounding area, both on the surface and below ground level, for missing pieces of every incomplete marker.

• Breaks:  Markers that were once one solid piece have broken into two or more pieces.  In some cases, as noted above, delamination becomes so severe that the stone cleaves into multiple pieces.  Markers also break along lines of inclusions in the stone.  In most cases, the breaks create distinct pieces with smooth edges, less frequently leaving jagged edges.
• Insufficient support:  Some markers were found with insufficient material for the marker to stand up with the epitaph above ground. Every effort was made to recover the original bases and reattach them to the top part of the stone.  These markers were found lying flat on the grass or buried so that carved surface was below ground level.

We are very pleased with the outcome of this project. There remains one more small section, which is set off from the main site by a small staircase, to finish. This section is more recent, dating from the 19^th century, and is in better condition. The project has won a Preservation Achievement Award from the Boston Preservation Alliance! 

Here are some before and after photos:

 

The resetting of the gravestones in straight rows makes a huge visual difference. The conservation of gravestones is less apparent at first glance. The repair treatments are designed to blend in with the color of the stone. The goal of treatments is to stabilize the gravestone for the future, not to make it look brand new. So strangely enough, if it is hard to see exactly what was done, then we have succeeded at our work! Our sincere hope is that generations hundreds of years in the future will be able to read and appreciate these same gravestones.