ABSTRACT
Within the panoply of heritage assets available to every community, places of burial can convey more about changing attitudes towards mortality than any other type of site. Site interpretation generally masks the aspects of cemeteries that speak most closely to an understanding of mortality. Even within the rhetoric of cemetery conservation, death is often marginalised. This chapter illustrates and addresses this issue through reference to the recent history of cemetery conservation in England. It draws on multiple data sources to illustrate that uncertainty, including cemetery conservation guidance documents and material drawn from local "Friends of" cemetery group websites. As English Heritage worked towards establishing a national framework for assessing historic importance, the more immediate task of cemetery conservation fell in many cases to local community groups. The rhetoric and processes attached to cemetery conservation have shifted over time, and a formalised "top-down" approach has been challenged and to some degree overridden by a "bottom-up" approach.
