The Church Monuments Society is for everyone who is fascinated by tomb carvings, from medieval effigies to modern gravestones. We organise excursions and study days, publish a journal and a newsletter, and advise on conservation and interpretation of monuments.
Sint Joris, Hoedekenskerke
The Church Monuments Society recognises that there are huge challenges facing the Church of England and that there will always be a need for change, but we all have a responsibility to protect our heritage. The Church of England needs to recognise that the disposal of churches is not a private matter but is of public interest. Churches are repositories of our sculptural heritage: they house nearly 90% of our medieval and early-modern sculpture most of which takes the form of memorials.
Churches and the objects within them are witness to local, national and international history: the good, the bad and — if truth be told — the sometimes shameful. When we close a church, we prevent access to so much. Important monuments may find new homes: but we risk losing the context, all those smaller memorials placed cheek by jowl on walls next to stained-glass windows, and other precious objects that record the lives of local people and display the work of local craftspeople. These monuments do not belong to the church: they belong to the local community.
We need a plurality of approaches. Some churches can be given a new purpose whilst their heritage is still protected, but that may not apply to other churches. Even so, this should not mean that we can just abandon them to private developers and domestic conversion. Churches and all that they contain are for all of us.
Moira Ackers, President, Church Monuments Society
(A fuller version of this can be found on our blog at Church closures – Church Monuments Society )
Blog
