Church Monuments Society

Resources

Links

This will guide you to some key web sites, mainly of other organisations working on aspects of tomb carvings and the art of commemoration.

It would be impossible to list all the web sites that might have relevant material on tomb carvings. These are the web sites of some of the other individuals and organisations working to care for and understand different aspects of the art of commemoration.


Gazetteer of Church Monuments
John Bromilow’s Gazetteer is most detailed for England but with some entries for Wales, Scotland and France and a few for Italy, Belgium and elsewhere in Europe.

The Association for Gravestone Studies
The AGS is based in the United States but its aims and coverage are international. It was founded in 1997 for furthering the study and preservation of gravestones. They publish an annual academic journal, Markers, a quarterly magazine, AGS Quarterly and a monthly e-newsletter. They can be contacted at info@gravestonesstudies.org

The Church Recording Society has taken over the work of recording churches (including their monuments) from the Arts Society (formerly the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies).

Historic Cemeteries Conservation Trust of New Zealand:
A recently set up organisation for care of NZ cemeteries

The Ledgerstone Survey of England and Wales
Recording and studying the simple but fascinating commemorative floor slabs in churches.

Mausolea & Monuments Trust
is a charitable trust founded in 1997 for protection and preservation of mausolea and monuments in the United Kingdom. The Trust has recently launched an on-line gazetteer of mausolea, edited and partly compiled by founder-member of the Trust, Teresa Sladen.

Medieval Memoria Online (MeMO)
The MeMO (Medieval Memoria Online) project at Utrecht University is a collaboration with Groningen University and the Free University Amsterdam. The database was officially launched on Thursday 31 January 2013. It contains a wealth of material on medieval (or pre-Reformation) memorial culture within the present-day Netherlands. The database incorporates both memorial texts and objects up to c.1580, including tomb monuments and slabs. There is an extensive introduction that explains the aims and objectives of the project and instructions on how to browse or search in the database. All entries are in English and contain descriptions, measurements, locations, inscriptions (with translations), biographical information on the persons commemorated, literature, and photos where available. It thus offers scholars internationally a wonderful new research tool that is freely available to all.

Monumental Brass Society
The website for the Society for those interested in any aspect of monumental brasses and incised slabs of all dates in all countries. Includes an extensive bibliography, themed picture library, access to a topographical index to MBS publications and other research tools for those studying brasses and incised slabs.

Public Monuments & Sculpture Association
For the promotion and preservation of public sculpture and monuments in the British Isles.

Saving Graves
A US organisation but with world-wide concerns about endangered cemeteries. A vast amount of links.

War Memorial Trust
A charitable trust dedicated to ensuring war memorials are properly maintained and preserved.

Finally, a couple of sites devoted to photographs of all kinds of church monuments:

Church Monuments Photographs
Hundreds of photographs of monuments taken by several people, including Society members.  Despite the title of Monuments Today, it is not about contemporary monuments but includes those from all times.

Swithland Slate Calligraphy Angels and Flying Heads on UK Gravestones – beautiful vernacular art.

A splendid collection of photos of tomb carvings and other medieval sculpture at https://www.flickr.com/photos/roelipilami/albums