First World War Memorials Condition Surveys:

How you can get involved Why care about War Memorials?

What is a Condition Survey?

The 4 steps to completing a Condition Survey

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Why care about war memorials? For many families who’ve lost someone they loved during a war, memorials are the only place they can visit to pay their respects to them.

Memorials remind all of us about the sacrifices other people have made, so that we can live in a free and peaceful place.

Find out more at - Why are war memorials important

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What is a Condition SurveyThis is where someone goes to look at a war memorial and checks what state it’s in. This might include:

Is it damaged? Is there graffiti? Are the names readable? Is it well looked after?

Then they can report back their findings via War Memorials Online Website.

If it needs extra care they can apply for a grant to fix it.

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The 4 steps1. Find your nearest war memorial

2. Plan your visit

3. Carry out your condition survey

4. Upload your results to War Memorials Online

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Step 1 - Find your nearest memorial

Option 1: War Memorials Online Website

Option 2: Imperial War Museum Website

Option 3: Go explore!

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There is no single national register of War Memorials, but there is lots of information available

Option 1: War Memorials Online Website www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk The War Memorials Online website lets you quickly

search for memorials near you Even if a condition survey has been done records

need updating regularly, so don’t be put off – you can update it

Watch this demo to find out more

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Did you find a memorial to visit?

Yes – Take me to Step 2 – Planning your visit

No – Take me to Option 2 – Imperial War Museum Website

No – Take me to Option 3 – Go explore!

Option 2: Imperial War Museum Website

The Imperial War Museum has an online catalogue of war memorials for you to search www.iwm.org.uk/warmemorials

Watch this demo to find out more

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Did you find a memorial to visit?

Yes – Take me to Step 2 – Planning your visit

No – Take me to Option 1 – War Memorials Online Website

No – Take me to Option 3 – Go explore!

Option 3: Go explore! Walk around your local area – memorials are often found in

churches, parks and other public spaces

Use a search engine to find your nearest memorial

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Did you find a memorial to visit?

Yes – Take me to Step 2 – Planning your visit

No – Take me to Option 1 – War Memorials Online Website

No – Take me to Option 2 – Imperial War Museum Website

Step 2 - Planning your visit

Pre-visit activities Assigning roles Equipment Health and Safety

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Pre-visit activitiesUse some of the War Memorials Trust’s resources to introduce the topic, such as:What is Remembrance?History of RemembranceWhat are war memorials?History of war memorials

What do we mean by ‘condition’?

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What do we mean by ‘condition’?There are 4 ways to describe the condition of a war memorial:-

Good: It is well looked after, the writing is easily readable.

Fair: It is quite well looked after, the writing is generally readable, but there are a few things to be fixed.

Poor: There is a lot of damage or ‘wear and tear’, the writing is not easy to read. It definitely needs someone to come and fix parts of it.

Very bad: It is unsafe and in a dangerous condition. The writing is unreadable. It urgently needs someone to come and fix it.

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Assigning rolesSplit the class in to ‘teams’ to focus on different aspects of recording the war memorial – so they’re not all looking for the same thing.NB: If the memorial is not on War Memorials Online you also need a ‘team’ to complete a ‘War Memorials – Details Checklist’.

Landscape Surveyors: To look at the overall setting

Conservators: To look at what it’s made of/type of structure

Building Surveyors: To look at condition of inscriptions/carving

Photographers: To look at capturing the evidence

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Landscape SurveyorsPupils use the ‘Landscape Surveyors Sheet’ to:Assess the whole area around the memorialDescribe the wider area around itLook for general condition of the area: litter, graffiti etc.Decide where they’d like the photographer to take their 10 photos from

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Conservators Pupils use the ‘Conservators Sheet’ to:Assess the main part of the memorial and work out what materials it’s made ofLook for general condition of the monumentDecide what they’d like the photographer to take their 10 photos of

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Building SurveyorsPupils use the ‘Building Surveyors Sheet’ to:Assess what type of lettering/writing is used on the memorialAssess the general condition of the lettering/writingDecide what they’d like the photographer to take their 10 photos of

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PhotographersPupils use ‘Photographer Sheet’ to:Advise other teams on what a good photo isKeep an accurate record of all photos you takeUse a compass to work out the direction of a photographEnsure that they only take a maximum of 10 photos for each of the other teams

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Equipment for the survey Recording Sheets - Landscape, Building, Conservator,

Photographer (paper or digital) Clipboard or ‘tablet’ with pencils or stylus’ Cameras (number depends on number of

‘photographers’) Compasses (number depends on number of

‘photographers’)

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Health & Safety Identify risks such as crossing roads and ‘stranger

danger’

Write risk assessment (see - Planning a visit to a war memorial helpsheet)

Brief students/helpers before the visit

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Step 3 - On your visit Ensure pupils, staff and helpers follow all instructions given

about health and safety. Encourage teams to start talking about how they are going to

rate the condition of the memorial – these discussions will be continued back in the classroom.

Ensure the Photographers stick to their limit – though you may want to ask one of them to take some ‘working shots’ of everyone doing the survey.

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Before you leave the memorial Ensure that all Teams have completed their tasks and

filled in their recording sheets. Ask pupils if there is any other information they would

like to record. Hopefully pupils will now be interested in the

memorial and want to return to it to find out more about the people listed on it . This could be another project - see Researching names on a war memorial

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Back in the classroom Each ‘Team’ must present their findings to the rest of the class;

stating Good, Fair, Poor or Very Bad and explaining why. As a whole class discuss the findings and agree on an overall

condition. If the class is split this could lead to a proper debate, with Teams presenting their ‘case’.

Look at all the photos and decide on the 10 best ones. Upload your findings to War Memorials Online.

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Step 4 - Is your memorial already recorded on War Memorials Online?

Yes

No

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How to register/login to War Memorials Online

YES Find the entry for your memorial and login/register to

add your information.

Check the details (type, setting, materials etc.) – add any additional information you’ve gathered by clicking the Edit Memorial Details link.

Submit an updated condition report by clicking the yellow button on the ‘Condition’ tab and add new photos using the yellow ‘Submit a new image’ button.

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NO Register on War Memorials Online (see video on Slide 27)

Go to Memorials tab and click Add a Memorial icon. Follow the online steps to add your memorial – you will need to know – its location on a map and address, then click General Details

Add the information you’ve gathered from your ‘War Memorials – Details Checklist’ by clicking the Edit Memorial Details link.

Submit updated condition information and photos

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Repetition

Why not do it again in a year!

Or find another memorial near you –it is estimated that there are about 100,000 in the UK and only 60,000 are online, so keep going…..

Tell a friend….