Love your Burial Ground Week
Learn about the history of your local burial grounds, and join others in exploring what these somber plots of land can tell us about the past and its inhabitants.
Position your heritage, tourism, or community organization as a steward of local history by sponsoring or amplifying burial ground preservation and educational events.
- Uncover the stories buried in your backyard: local history tours and genealogy workshops
- Support churchyard conservation: how communities are preserving heritage sites
- Behind the headstones: educational content on local burial ground history and architecture
- Volunteer spotlight: celebrate those maintaining sacred community spaces
Love Your Burial Ground Week was formerly known as Cherishing Churchyards Week. The campaign was launched in 2013, and since its inception, it has grown in stature, with events taking place in multiple locations.
The aim of this celebration was to provide support for those charged with the role of looking after burial grounds, but perhaps the most important element is tying the churchyard to the community.
Events were planned to enable local people to learn about the history of the burial ground, to appreciate the beauty of the setting and to get involved in the upkeep of the site. In the last decade, the number of events has increased, and the range of activities hosted by churches and local charities seems to diversify year on year.
Organizers hope to use Love Your Burial Ground Week to educate adults and children about the heritage of burial grounds and introduce them to the features that make them unique.
Many people don’t take the time to look around churchyards, and far from being spooky places that should be out of bounds after dark, they are often actually incredibly beautiful and serene spots.