[Talk-GB] Mapping graveyards / church grounds

[Steven Hirschorn]

I also wondered about progressively mapping cemeteries previously, there
are websites that allow people who live too far from a cemetery to request
that someone locally take a photo of an ancestor's grave. My local
cemeteries are labelled by area, but each area can contain dozens of
graves. Mapping row numbers would massively simplify finding particular
plots.

eg
https://www.findagrave.com/photo-request/search/cemetery/880537?sortBy=newest&searchRadius=5

On Sun, 14 Feb 2021, 19:48 Mark Goodge, <mark at good-stuff.co.uk> wrote:

>
>
> On 14/02/2021 16:29, David Woolley wrote:
>
> > I have come across graveyards that have no photography rules (the one in
> > question had a relatively famous grave), and I think others sell grave
> > catalogue information, so might not appreciate OSM mappers (they are
> > private property).
>
> Most graveyards and cemeteries belong either to the church they are
> associated with or the local authority (usually the parish council if
> there is one, otherwise the district or unitary authority). While
> technically private in the sense of not being dedicated as a public
> right of way, they are almost always open to access by the public - not
> least because the owners of individual burial plots have a right of
> access, and it would be impractical to restrict access to such people
> alone. So, provided you do it reasonably discreetly, and don't disturb
> people who are there to visit graves, I can't see any real objection to
> people accessing the site to help map it.
>
> (In fact, the legislation governing municipal cemeteries includes a
> clause prohibiting entry to a cemetery when it is closed to the public;
> the existence of that clause implies that, when not closed, it is open
> to the public!)
>
> A "no photography" rule is, usually, also about protecting the privacy
> of people visiting the graves of their friends and relatives. It's a
> location were people may well be in an emotional state (particularly if
> the grave is a recent one and they were close to its occupant), and the
> last thing they want is to end up in someone else's photo gallery.
>
> As for selling catalogue information, that's usually made available for
> the benefit of visitors to the graveyard and the cost is merely a way to
> defray the expenses incurred in maintaining the catalogue (and, if it's
> supplied on paper, the printing and materials costs). It's rarely a
> profit-making exercise. So they may well welcome the work of volunteer
> mappers who would be producing data that can be used in a catalogue.
>
> Mark
>
> _______________________________________________
> Talk-GB mailing list
> Talk-GB at openstreetmap.org
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-gb/attachments/20210214/114bc281/attachment.htm>