Cemetery maintenance and safety

Headstone and memorial safety

The owners of graves or their next of kin are in charge of upkeep headstones or memorials.  If you know that a family headstone or memorial is unsafe. Then you can have it repaired by a stonemason. You'll be responsible for the cost of fixing the headstone or memorial back into a safe order.

We can offer a memorial repairs service which is guaranteed for quality and work. We are approved by the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons. Only memorial stonemasons accredited by us can carry out work.

We'll routinely inspect headstones and memorials, to look for damage and identify how stable they are.  Where headstones or memorial are unsafe, we'll lay them flat to avoid injury to visitors.

Our first priority is to make the grave safe. We'll contact families to let them know what action we have taken, if we have their details.  We’ll also leave a sticker at the location to tell people what to do next. Please don't attempt to lift a headstone or memorial that has been laid flat.

Contact us

Please tell us about an unsafe headstone or memorials. It helps us to find the stone if you describe where it is in the cemetery. Also the names on the plot if you can. 

Please report any other issue about a cemetery.  Such as dog fouling, vandalism, anti social behaviour or theft.

You can  email at bereavementservices@barnsley.gov.uk or call (01226) 206053.