All Hallows’ Church, Kirkburton and Emmanuel Church, Shelley, in the Huddersfield EA have received £6,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a unique project to digitally map 6,000 gravestones in their churchyards.
The resulting images will then be put online to help researchers locate and view gravestones and memorials.
This innovative project will involve pioneering research to develop the distinctive heritage of the two churchyards, and will add great value for the local and wider communities of all ages.
The research work will begin within the next month and the project will last one year.
Commenting on the award, Revd Amanda Grant said: “We are thrilled to have received support thanks to National Lottery players, and we are confident the project will make a positive, enduring difference to the local heritage and the conservation areas of both churches."
Genealogists, historians and interested parties will benefit greatly from easy online-access to search for graves/memorials by name/date/age, view the photograph of the memorial inscriptions, find the grave location in the graveyards and read the associated burial register entry – all on one system.
Atlantic Geomatics (UK) Ltd will digitally map the historic churchyards of Kirkburton (4,000 gravestones) and Shelley (2,000 gravestones), conducting a detailed topographic survey.
Volunteers from the churches and local communities will be trained to take high-quality photographs of the memorials, which will be linked directly to the memorial location on the map.
Atlantic Geomatics (UK) Ltd. will scan the burial registers for each churchyard and volunteers will be trained to transcribe the text in the registers onto the portal and link them to the images and map.
This project in conjunction with existing information, will benefit the conservation areas of both churches, in particular in All Hallows’ Churchyard which for many years has won the Green Flag Community Award.
The project will benefit:
i) The growing community of local, national and international genealogists who have an interest in this area.
ii) All who live/work in the two villages (now and ongoing) as they can share the heritage of the people who are buried in the churchyards.
iii) Schoolchildren and their families, as the heritage project incorporates part of the whole school curriculum plans specifically on subjects including maths, geography, science and history.
iv) Local volunteers, with professional support, will learn new skills (eg photography/ scanning, IT, researching archives, communication and interviewing, and sharing an in-depth knowledge of the churchyards heritage and participate in a range of heritage activities centred on the burial grounds.
v) Visitors to both churches will be able examine the results of the project in a variety of ways – by attending talks, guided trails, exhibitions, using the mapping system, educational resources and other events.
vi) Will enhance the churchyard conservation areas.
This heritage project is founded on the history of two churches:
All Hallows’ Church (Grade I) is situated in the ancient village of Kirkburton, dating to before the Norman Conquest. The old churchyard dates back to the 17th century with a 19th century major extension being established.
Emmanuel Church, Shelley (Grade II), has a churchyard that offers a rare resource on Victorian history.