Supporting The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

By Andy Ball

Stonewest has been working with The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) for over 20 years on many of their well known sites. The CWGC takes great pride in the protection of the heritage assets in their care as they form an important part of our cultural heritage, as well as our military, social and international history.  Stonewest considers it a great honour to have been entrusted over many years to provide our consultancy services and skilled labour force to undertake maintenance and upkeep of the memorials that mean so much to the families of those that made the ultimate sacrifice.

We are currently completing a condition assessment for the Portsmouth War Memorial Obelisk to assess the short and medium term needs of the listed masonry and bronze elements. Our work includes provision of a drone with 3D laser scanning technology, which produces a point cloud and measurable ortho-mosaic images of the obelisk. These images are then used to define and record the extent and type of repairs required.

These memorials are inspected on a cyclical basis. Stonewest completed previous surveys to many of these structures and other cemeteries for the CWGC over 10 years ago, including Portsmouth, Chatham, Plymouth, Tower Hill, and Brookwood. Our work assists in providing a planned programme of minimally invasive conservation to stabilise and maintain these important assets.

Stonewest believes combining traditional craft techniques with new and emerging cutting-edge technology drives new opportunities that enable us to add value in the preservation and conservation process.  We recognise that we cannot do this alone and we are proud that we have cultivated a supply chain that complements our own specialist abilities and services.

We will complete our survey and reporting works for Portsmouth War Memorial in March 2023 and look forward to the opportunity of assisting the CWGC in reviewing other assets in their care using similar technology.

Photo credit: Michael Parry/ArtUK