Restoration of the James Braidwood Family Grave
On 22 June 2026, we were honoured to host a memorial to James Braidwood, marking 165 years since his death in the great warehouse fire of Tooley Street. To read more about this remarkable pioneer of fire fighting and the father of the modern fire service, see here.
To coincide with this act of remembrance, in collaboration with members of the Braidwood family and with generous funding from the Worshipful Company of Firefighters’ Charitable Trust, the grave’s monument was expertly cleaned and restored. The lettering which had become illegible in parts, brought back to life; the stone work, stained by age and greenery repaired and cleaned.
The work was carried out by Orbis Conservation, who have worked on many other projects in the cemetery, including the Reed Celtic Cross and the Civilian War Memorial.
As part of the restoration, the monument was gently cleared, by hand, of all loose debris and biological growth. This saw the definition on beautiful wreath on the top of the monument emerge with wonderful clarity.
The paint work on the monument was damaged and needs to be carefully removed. Because Abney is a nature reserve, some of the harsher chemicals used in stone restoration in other contexts were not appropriate. Instead, the degraded paint that covered the monument was removed using a water-based paste formulated to safely remove multiple layers of paint. The surface of the stone was then cleared of residue using water and natural bristle brushes.
Moulding on the lower side of the pedestal, that had been lost over time, was remodelled using polyester resin mixed with marble and stone dust. The white paint surface was re-instated using specialist conservation grade paint. This paint is hydrophobic, meaning that it will repel rainwater, whilst maintaining the stone’s ability to “breathe” and so preserving the vapour permeability of the stone. The lettering was painstakingly repainted in black signwriters’ paint, taking care to restore while remaining within the structure of the original carving.
We are incredibly grateful to the Worshipful Company of Firefighters’ Charitable Trust for their generous funding of this restoration. If you want to find out more about the work of the Worshipful Company please visit their website here. We would also like to thank our fantastic volunteer, Danielle Cortez, who through her photography has helped us to record the process.
We hope that visitors to Abney will see the stone gently gleaming through the trees, and come to investigate this man, whose legacy has contributed so much to our fire safety today.
