Standing stones gather moss, and lichens, and…

A conservation project to help save aging headstones at Fort Anne's Garrison Graveyard, that started in May, continues this Fall with Parks Canada and Mapannapolis welcoming two new partners in the timely effort.

Decades of lichen and moss growth threaten to erase this stone’s inscription and damage the stone.

"The Historical Association of Annapolis Royal and students from Annapolis West Education Centre joining us this week for another workshop on conservation," said Mapannapolis project manager Heather LeBlanc. "Parks Canada's conservation expert Antoine Pelletier will work with the volunteers over the four days, with time spent each day on putting what they learn into practice."

Antoine Pelletier and colleague Karimi Golnaz at the Garrison Graveyard.

Parks Canada conservator Antoine Pelletier has specialized knowledge. Stone porosity. Removing moss and lichen growth gently from aging stones. How water wicks in, freezes, expands, and works away at the surface – for centuries.

“Conservation comes in more as ways to control the deterioration factors rather than try to restore to kind of an original state,” Pelletier said, “We eventually will lose all the original surface, all the markings, and losing a lot of the work of those important historical markers,”

“We’re training people -- giving them proper training on how to care and maintain some of the headstones that can sustain such type of maintenance.”

After careful cleaning.

Grade 10 Annapolis West Educational Centre students from the Options and Opportunity class, and students from the Student Support Program are part of the four-day conservation workshop.

Photos and text from the journalism of Lawrence Powell.