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Archiver > DORSET > 2000-08 > 0965243048


From: Jeremy Wilkes <>
Subject: [DOR] Ownership of gravestones
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 15:04:08 -0400


A memorial in a church or churchyard belongs to the heir of the person
commemorated.

It is subject to faculty jurisdiction, so anything done with or to it must
either be in accordance with the chancellor's general directions (and
usually with the consent of the incumbent) or authorised by a specific
faculty.

It is not relevant to the question, but it has occurred to me that there
seems to be no direct authority as to rights in collective war memorials.

If there is a proposal to remove stones from a churchyard, it is advertised
locally, so there is some opportunity to object if one reads the press in
an area where one has an interest in a gravestone. Also, of course, it
enables a family history society to do any necessary recording. I believe
that it is the practice of the Church Commissioners to notify the Society
of Genealogists if a church is to be made redundant, and that it is that
society's practice to inform a local society.

Jeremy Wilkes

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