Extended Condition

Condition level:

Survey reason:

Comments:

It is important to manage expectations about how ‘clean’ an old structure can be, especially if it is in an environment that makes this difficult. War memorials, the majority of which are a century old, should look their age as they are historic objects which change over the years. Looking old can also help young people understand our memorials better as they look like part of our history.

Soiling might be a problem if you cannot read the letters or it is causing damage e.g. a chemical has got in to the stone and is eating it away. Overcleaning can damage a war memorial – each time you clean the stone you remove the top layer so it becomes less protected and attracts more dirt so it can become a vicious circle.

WMT recommends regular condition checks, keeping photographs and creating a maintenance plan. War Memorials Online can help with this. Creating a record to show any soiling over time helps understand how often stone could/should be cleaned. A maintenance plan should include notes about how it should look, and when cleaning will be done. It may be that a hand-clean with water and bristle brushes is undertaken every 10 years. In other cases, the community may have to accept that only inscription plaques can be kept ‘clean’ as the wider environment e.g. overhanging trees, mean that it would have to be cleaned too often and quickly get damaged. Go to the Links tab for details of WMT’s Cleaning stone with water helpsheet.

Survey date:

Is the memorial accessible to the public?

Has the memorial been subject to any accidental or malicious damage in the last five years?

Do you think the site is at significant risk of accidental or malicious damage in the next 2 years?

Are there any known planning applications or issues related to this memorial?

Freeland