Council to breathe new life into gravestones of famous residents (From Watford Observer)

Watford Borough Council to breathe new life into gravestones of famous residents

2:30pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Adam Binnie, Senior Reporter

The graves of famous Watford residents are due an £80,000 makeover, thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Watford Borough Council has been awarded the money to help restore a number of "chest tombs" in St Mary’s Churchyard in Church Street.

The project includes repairs to 12 locally and nationally listed tombs of key people who helped shape the development of Watford during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

They include George Edward Doney, a freed slave originally from The Gambia.

Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said: "As well as doing the repairs, we’ll be running some exciting art workshops, educational talks and installing new signage to make the history of these tombs more accessible."

The work will be carried out in the summer and a short animated film will be created documenting the tombs, as well as an art workshop exploring the Mexican day of the dead.

The project will also provide practical work experience for a group of construction students from West Herts College, who will be looking at the brick foundations of the tombs.