Yewdall family: The angel which shines again on monument to historic Yorkshire family
When he set out on this ambitious project he didn’t realise it would cost him quite as much.
But Robin Yewdall was determined to ensure a monument to his ancestors, topped by a “real” angel, was in the best shape for generations to come.
In recent weeks a scaffold has been up around a memorial, which at over 20ft tall towers over most of the other headstones in in the grounds of Bramley Baptist cemetery, on Hough Lane, Bramley.
Painstaking conservation work, using toothbrushes, bamboo and wire bristles, has removed decades of grime from the late Victorian memorial which was put up by around 1870 by Robin’s great great grandfather Alderman David Yewdall, a wealthy clothier who lived at The Grange, Rodley.
Among the members of his family buried there is Robin’s beloved sister Ginny, who died “far too young” from breast cancer in 1997, and whose enthusiasm for family history sparked his own passionate interest.
The retired government national fraud investigator and songwriter, 77, said he hadn’t expected the £11,000 bill.
However he says the cost of materials and hand-carving such an imposing piece would now run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds – three pillars that have been stolen will cost another £4,500 to replace.
Now the work is nearly complete, Robin, who lives in the New Forest, is planning a celebration in May, with the Leeds Scottish Pipe Band due to perform.
He hopes as many Yewdalls as possible will turn out. For decades Robin has dug into the long history of Yewdalls, which stretches back into the mists of time.
The original Yewdalls were shepherds back in the 1400s, who sold their livestock to the monks at Fountains Abbey.
He said: “It was my sister Ginny who got me into it.
“We saw the (1977) TV series Roots (based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family) and we went together to Calverley Church and saw the records there – she started it.
"I think it is the pathos – it is about family and relationships. I was talking with Brian (a Yewdall relative who lives close by) who has done some gardening.
"The monument was getting very grubby.
"It’s rather special because the angel is a proper angel – most are given wings. But real angels don’t have wings - they don’t need them.”
Yewdalls seem to pop up everywhere – from Yorkshire to London and beyond.
"There’s a record of William Yewdall in York who was registered as a weaver. The family was also in London.
"My family lived at Leaventhorpe Hall Thornton, built before 1600, a fine twin gable farm house.
“My great times six grandfather lived in Carcase End farm up in Idle, and was send to York Gaol for refusing as a Quaker to swear the oath of allegiance to Charles II.
"Yewdalls have been involved in all sorts of things – great great uncle Sgt Jeremiah Yewdall was in Gibraltar helping defend it at the time of the Great Siege (the unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture The Rock during the American Revolutionary War)."