Our Digital Ancestors is an England-wide project funded primarily by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England, with support from the Church of England. Its aims are to work with community groups across England to record, celebrate and safeguard burial ground heritage, particularly the memorials.  

Our work supports burial ground supporters of all types and denominations who want to run their own recording project or research the stories of those buried at their site. We aim to make recording as easy as possible for volunteers, with comprehensive online training and project staff support. As well as photographing and recording memorials, we teach volunteers how to research the people buried in their burial grounds and how to tell their stories o share them with the local and wider public. Burial grounds are often at the heart of the community, and the stories they tell us about the past can be a brilliant way for people to connect with their past, thereby attracting visitors and increasing community support for the site. 

We have two staff working on the project: Dr Josie Wall (project manager, currently on maternity leave) and Dr Rachel Askew (Acting Project Manager).