St. Margarets Pioneer Cemetery Restoration

Stone Wall - November progress update

After just a month of work, the team has done a phenomenal job of uncovering and restoring the wall to its original glory. 

The front and back of the wall were cleared with the Bobcat tractor shown in an earlier update, but most of the work was pain-stakingly completed by hand, as years of topsoil was removed from the wall, and dirt cleared out from around the edges and surface of the stones.

We have learned from archaeologists that these walls start as earthen mounds and were then covered with local stones, in this case, red island sandstone.  Our excavation shows that stones were placed on either side of the mound, but not on the top, which perhaps is the reason that these walls ultimately became overgrown and covered with topsoil. 

To complete the restoration, we have added a layer of sod, which we believe is consistent with the early wall design, and which provides benefits for aesthetics, and stability of the wall.

For more pictures of the work completed over the first month, which also includes the installation of a new fence at the entrance, click on the photo below to start a slideshow.

Stone Wall - Restoration Commences

In late October 2010, the funding for the project was approved, and the project team was hired.  In this photo, we see the Project Foreman, Lenny Rose, and a Bobcat operator gathering fragments of tombstones which had been strewn about in the field adjacent to the cemetery. 

It is not known exactly how or when these tombstones were broken, but it may have occurred during the 1973 restoration.  The goal of our restoration will be to identify any stones that can be re-assembled and have them professionally repaired by a stone mason.

For more photos from the first week of the renovation, click on the photo below, to start a slideshow.

Stone Wall - Preliminary Excavation

In early October of 2009, members of the Restoration Committee noticed that there were stones in the mound wall that surrounded the cemetery.  Anne kells and her family members took a day and cleared out a section of the wall near the front of the cemetery, and were impressed to see a wall of red island stone.  The realization that the entire cemetery was bounded by this wall, led to the goal of restoring the cemetery in 2010.

In these photos, you can see a section of wall that I spent a few hours doing a quick excavation.  I found a spot where the stones were visible and started pulling off the years of plant growth and topsoil and as you will see in the photos, it demonstrated that there was probably an impressive wall to be uncovered,

Shortly after this work, we received approval to commence with hiring a team for the restoration of the wall, and related cemetery maintenance and restoration work.  In the other articles in this section, you can read about and see the results of their hard