The Importance Of Stone Memorials

Good evening ladies and gentlemen I am honoured to be here tonight and it is a privilege to speak to you and with you about my industry.

I have two objectives this evening; firstly I would like to point out the problems, disadvantages and dangers inherent in memorials made of synthetic materials, and go some way to dispel the myth that a synthetic memorial is either safer or more environmentally friendly than a memorial made of stone. And secondly I wish to highlight the many positive attributes of the memorial industry, attributes that are all to frequently overlooked.

You may be wondering what the pictures on the screen behind me are? Well these are photographs taken by me yesterday at a BRAMM fixer licence test day in Ealing here in London. And I show them here with the permission of the candidates so that you may see for yourself the standard that is required in order gain a fixer licence from BRAMM.

In those burial authority areas that have been far sighted enough to adopt the BRAMM scheme all memorial masons must gain a recognised fixing qualification in order to work in that area. Currently BRAMM require that a mason show, over a three-year cycle a commitment to continuous professional development. So that the high standards achieved during qualification are maintained and new developments in fixing methods and the NAMM COWP are assimilated.

Many people feel, and I am one, that a memorial made from a synthetic material is in some fundamental sense unauthentic, and fails to pay the proper respect due to a lost relative or friend, ask anyone for their views on synthetic memorials and you will invariably see a look of revulsion and disbelief staring back at you.  Now you may say that this is my personal opinion and that it should not be imposed on others, who may wish to buy a product of this sort! And I feel this would be a valid point if there were indeed a genuine demand for these products or an imperative for their use, but as there is neither, to introduce them would inevitably mean distress for those close relatives who never the less have no right to influence the purchase of the memorial or those who may be compelled to buy a synthetic memorial against their wishes because of cemetery regulations. What right have we to knowingly, set out to cause distress amongst the bereaved? There is in this country what amounts to a cultural acceptance that stone is the material most appropriate for the purposes of making lasting tributes to loved ones. To change that bias will entail very real distress for many bereaved people.

Synthetic memorials are also plainly inferior in terms customer choice; the range of colours is limited and there is only one finish to choose from.

I and many other masons offer customers a vast range of letter styles and finishes and many of us design and carve inscriptions that are unique to that memorial and the person it commemorates, making a personal tribute and a true focus for grief and healing. If you were to take some time to look at the design work some masons and particularly wholesalers are doing you would be amazed at its delicacy, intricacy and above all artistry; nothing of this sort has ever been seen on a synthetic memorial. Memorials are not a mere commodity; they are nothing less than the public face of a family’s love, grief and hope.

Of course it is not the first time that man made materials have been used in a cemetery context. Both during and after the Second World War when supplies of granite were limited grantex a glazed item of pottery became, for a time, an acceptable alternative. But as soon as a supply was re-established its use declined sharply as the general public once more cleaved to stone. Although I still occasionally carve additional inscriptions on grantex, all too often it is to be found in poor repair with its glaze broken revealing sharp edges akin to shards of glass, which point brings me to the future safety of synthetic memorials.

The truth is we do not know how a synthetic memorial will weather over an extended period of time, though it is unlikely that as time goes on they will become more beautiful as is the case with many types of stone. We do not know how heat and cold and pollution will affect these materials. But there are things that we do know based both on our experience and on scientific studies.

Firstly we must concede that a synthetic memorial would be particularly attractive to a vandal. Vandalizing stone memorials by the use of physical force can be unrewarding and involves a fair amount of effort; if spray paint or other chemicals are used then generally it can be removed and the memorial returned to its former finish. But how would a synthetic memorial fair? It would obviously require far less physical force to damage such a memorial beyond repair; indeed it is hard to imagine any damage that wouldn’t be deemed beyond repair. How many of these memorials will need to be replaced because of damage inflicted simply by strimmers or mowers? And will the future condition of these memorials be as potentially dangerous as Grantex has proved to be?

This brings us to environmental considerations. Much is often made of the excessive (and by implication unnecessary) level of emissions generated by the memorial industry across national and international borders, from both quarrying and distribution, and I will come back to this shortly. But it seems to be taken for granted that a synthetic memorial would inevitably be kinder to the environment. This is very far from the truth. The manufacture of polymers and resins inevitably lead to a carbon footprint. You may say yes but the impact of quarrying and transporting stone around the world will obviously be greater than manufacturing a synthetic memorial in Britain. But if we examine for a second the lifetime of the memorial we will see the synthetic memorial is nothing more than a profligate use of scarce resources.

Sadly from time to time I am called upon to inscribe an additional inscription; it is not uncommon for a memorial to be re-inscribed twice and sometimes three times. Sometimes the memorial is removed from the cemetery and sometimes the work is carried out in situ. But if we now imagine a synthetic memorial undergoing the same process we will find a very different method. Each time the memorial requires an additional inscription it is discarded and a new memorial is ordered with the revised inscription. So over the lifetime of the memorial three or even four entirely different memorials may be made, where as one stone memorial would have done the job far more efficiently. Just last week I carved an additional inscription with instructions from the customer to leave room for one further inscription, the inscription I carved was number six! Oh! And what of those who become sentimentally attached to a memorial, as many do? There seems to be very little room for sentiment in this model.

Occasionally these memorials are promoted simply as temporary grave markers; unfortunately as they are fixed on conventional foundations, before the ground has had time to firm, they are liable to subsidence. Add to this the fact that a temporary grave marker may be the only memorial ever placed on the grave leaving us with a cemetery littered with synthetic memorials by default.

There is also firm new evidence that fire retardants and other chemicals such as endocrine disrupters found in these materials can leach out into the environment causing potential public health problems. I refer you to a special section of the October 2008 issue of “Environmental Research,” (details of which can be found on the table) in which amongst other disturbing findings it is shown that these chemicals can cause changes in the reproductive organs and hormones of humans, and disrupt normal development. We would, if prudent, reduce our exposure to these materials rather than look for new ways to spread their use.

Now let us turn to the effects that we may see if synthetic memorials were to become more widespread in either a local area or more generally.

Masons like myself maintain our businesses by selling memorials to the public, but that is far from the true extent of our business, we also undertake a considerable amount of restoration work that amounts to a vast nationwide program of maintenance of the national stock of memorials. Unfortunately there is no possibility of a company like mine thriving on restoration work alone and so inevitably there would be a significant loss of skills if synthetic memorials were to become common place. Obviously I refer here to those skills required to safely maintain the National stock of memorials, although it is worth noting that a significant number of Heritage skills will also be lost or degraded as a result of these changes, skills like letter carving, flush lead, raised lead and general masonry skills. It is my contention that this loss of skills either in a local setting or nationally would mean that the present national stock of memorials may become degraded and pose a greater threat to the safety of cemetery users, particularly in those areas where BRAMM is not yet established. And remember that training is paid for out of profits, so it is clearly the case that every synthetic memorial sold will lessen the investment so vital for maintaining our national stock of memorials.

Finally ladies and gentlemen let me turn to what is good and valuable in our industry. Yes there is an environmental impact and that is undeniable, but let’s set against this the benefits such as employment in developing countries and along the supply chain right into my rural community.

Take a look at the good work, for instance, done by the Amala trust in the Tamil Nadu region of India, which educates and feeds hundreds of children thanks to the fund raising efforts of Kim Polit who sadly couldn’t be with us tonight; if he were here Kim, would I’m sure, talk to you of the masons and wholesalers like Odlings who donate all their residual gold in order to support the trust and give a wonderful start to hundreds of children in a very rural and poor region. There is information on the table and if you would like to get involved with supporting the Amala trust do please come and talk to me later.

Our industry, through trade, also has a role to play in influencing employment standards and social issues in developing countries. I myself brought a resolution before NAMM calling for all masons and wholesalers to ensure that bonded or child labour is not condoned in the quarries and factories they use, to the credit of NAMM members this resolution was unanimously accepted. And in turn the wholesalers adopted a similar resolution. What does the plastics and resins industry have to say on these issues? Precisely nothing.

NAMM maintains and develops the NAMM COWP and has lead the way in establishing conformity guarantees which give peace of mind to customers and burial authorities alike. NAMM also provide training for masons in a wide variety of areas so that skills can be widened and deepened.

I must also mention the memorial arts charity, memorials by artists and Harriett Frazier who do so much to open the eyes of the public and masons like my self to a much wider horizon.

We have every reason to be proud of our industry ladies and gentlemen and our achievements speak for themselves. But what we do is the result of our ability to make a profit; any spread of synthetic memorials must be seen as an attack on the interests of the bereaved, our industry, our hard won skills and the cause of memorial safety.

Thank you.

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