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Bath's Historic Jewish Cemetery
The website of the Friends of Bath Jewish Burial Ground
December: the most fragile headstones have been wrapped for winter:
And work has started on repairing the inside of the caretaker's cottage
Recent restoration activities
The iron gates to the burial ground have recently repaired and restored by IronArt, a local specialist wrought iron company. The gates were removed, sandblasted and repaired to a condition approaching their original before being rehung in November.
The chest-tomb of Joseph Sigmond (1750-1832) is one of only six in the West Country,
according to Heritage England, and had become dangerously dilapidated, but
recently a team of specialists from Sally Strachey Historic Conservation have restored it with local materials
and methods, following consultation with our conservation architect
from the Nash Partnership. After restoration the fabric of the tomb is secure
for many years, though work is still needed to save the ‘ledger’ stone bearing
its inscription.
Next to Joseph is another table tomb, that was restored a few years ago. Not enough of the inscription remains for us to know for certain who lies there, but our working assumption is that it is his wife, Catherine.
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The tomb has been in a very dilapidated condition for some time -
First the stones are removed, photographed... -
...and laid out in order at the side -
Inside we were surprised to find part of a broken tombstone that was new to us. -
A concrete slab is laid -
that forms a base for new stones that have been cut to replace the decayed plinth, -
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The side stones are replaced, together with some new ones.
Finally, the entrance and steps into to the burial ground just inside the gates has been paved with heritage flagstones to make it more accessible when visitors enter.
