Throughout history, paper records have been lost to fire, flood or deterioration, but a project is under way to digitally map the graves in 19,000 Church of England graveyards so the records will be protected.
… hope to complete the survey in seven years…
SKY News writes:
A project is under way to tackle the Herculean task of digitally mapping every grave in the Church of England’s 19,000 graveyards.
The result will be an online resource which will allow users to see the exact location of a burial plot, as well as photographs of the headstone and, where possible, the burial record from the church’s archives.
It will be an invaluable tool for historians, genealogists, and anyone wanting to find where their ancestors were laid to rest.
Funded by Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and two genealogy websites, the company charged with the task, Atlantic Geomatics, hope to complete the survey in seven years.
The researchers visit the graveyards wearing hi-tech backpacks. Inside are two laser scanners, five cameras, and GPS tracking sensors.
As they walk among the tombstones, millions of measurements are taken to map the exact locations of the graves. The graveyards are then revisited for the headstones and mausoleums to be photographed.
Images of the burial records are also added.
The church can update the database for each new burial…
