An interesting project to restore a monument to 6 young people who died in a boat accident in York in 1830

A boating accident on the River Ouse resulted in the drowning of four sons and two daughters of John and Ann Rigg, aged from 6 to 19. The family tragedy became a national tragedy and a monument to the six was built in the graveyard of St Lawrence’s Church, the cost being raised totally by public subscription.

Over the next decades the monument became well known and was seen as a visitor attraction on a par with York Minster. The monument has a fine stone base and surround, brick back, and railings, with an ornate and sentimental inscription, including a poem in a Romantic style evoking the shock felt at the accident. Over the decades it has become overgrown and dilapidated, and much of the inscription is no longer legible.

The original cost was raised by public subscription in York and nationally, and local craftspeople (masons, stonecarvers, bricklayers, and iron workers) were employed to build the monument.

More details and to donate click here