Urgent headstone repairs cost £400k

Up to a third of stones in some cemeteries deemed unstable

Urgent action is needed to repair dangerous headstones in graveyards across Fife.

Up to a third of stones in some cemeteries are believed to be unsafe.

It is estimated that £400,000 of work is needed at 11 priority sites.

Repairs at a further 104 graveyards will be carried out over the next five years.

The poor condition of dozens of stones was discovered during a survey carried out by Fife Council workers following the tragic death of an eight-year-old boy in Glasgow.

Ciaran Williamson was crushed by a falling tombstone as he played in a city cemetery with friends in 2015.

Up to a third of headstones in some Fife cemeteries could be unsafe and in need of urgent remedial action, it has been revealed.

Surveys of five graveyards across the region indicate between 40% and 60% of stones are likely to be in a poor condition.

The project by Fife Council workers was the first in a tranche of inspections to 115 cemeteries following the tragic death of an eight-year-old boy in Glasgow.

Ciaran Williamson was killed by a falling tombstone as he played in a city graveyard with friends in 2015.

In Fife, a young child was injured by an unstable headstone at Inverkeithing Cemetery in August the following year.

Since the initial surveys, further work has been done and a £400,000 priority list drawn up for 11 cemeteries across the region. This includes £158,000 to make safe a boundary wall at a section of Lochgelly Cemetery, £85,000 at East Wemyss and MacDuff Cemetery and £30,000 at Kinglassie churchyard.

Others on the list are Auchterderran churchyard, Cupar Old Parish churchyard, Pathhead Cemetery, Culross Abbey burial grounds, St Fillans Church and Carnock, Flisk and Tayport cemeteries.

Fife Council bereavement services manager Liz Murphy said it was hoped most of the remedial work could be carried out in the current financial year.

Any repairs at other graveyards would be done as part of a five-year rolling programme.

Liz Murphy said bereavement services staff would be able to carry out much of the repair work themselves but around half the headstones would require specialist contractors because of their size. “Technically, headstones and memorabilia are not the property of the council,” she said.

“However, in practice this is probably a moot point because of the broad duty of care we have to visitors of cemeteries.

“It is also the case that for the headstones affected, because of the passage of time, we do not have accurate current contact details for lair holders and significant work would need to take place to help track down the individuals concerned and persuade them to undertake required remedial works, always assuming that this would be possible.”

Labour councillor Alex Campbell said: “There’s a huge amount of money needed to bring them up to standard, which will come out of the public purse.”

Picture: Gareth Jennings. Tayport Cemetery is on Fife Council’s list of dangerous graveyards.

Eight-year-old Ciaran Williamson died after a gravestone fell on him as he played in Craigton Cemetery in Glasgow.