Kristin Cardi of Materials Conversation repairs a broken headstone by inserting stainless steel pins and a two part epoxy.

by Leah Silverstein, Yeakel Cemetery Preservation Committee

On a small, landlocked, wooded parcel in Wyndmoor, accessed by a grass trail — itself found only after maneuvering through the parking lot of the Chestnut Hill Lodge rehabilitation center—sits the nearly 300-year-old and largely intact Yeakel Cemetery. This secluded gem dates to at least 1752 and is the home to some of Chestnut Hill and Springfield Township’s earliest inhabitants. Thanks to the efforts of the Yeakel Cemetery Preservation Committee, and the generous support of Bowman Properties, the Schwenkfelder Church, neighbors, and volunteers, a multi-year restoration of the cemetery’s grave markers is now complete, ensuring the site will continue to be appreciated by those who discover it for years to come.

The Yeakel Cemetery was a burial ground for the Schwenkfelders, a Germanic Protestant sect, who came to Pennsylvania in the 1730s seeking religious freedom. Persecuted in their native Europe, the right to a proper burial was denied to many of these settlers. This modest burial place represented an important new freedom for the Schwenkfelders and that it should be preserved is especially symbolic considering that prohibition.

Following two earlier rounds, a third and final phase of tombstone conservation work took place at the Yeakel Cemetery over the spring and summer. This concluded a two-year restoration project aimed at repairing, cleaning, and preserving all 86 grave markers. Kristin Cardi, a professional conservator at Materials Conservation Co., led a team of conservators, technicians, and volunteers in the work, as she has during each of the previous stages. Treatments included straightening and resetting misaligned and fallen markers, pinning and reattaching broken stones, grouting and filling eroded areas with appropriate marble composite material, re-pointing open mortar joints and cleaning biological growth.

An unexpected discovery during the excavation and resetting process was three fragments of an older and since-replaced marker. Fitting together like puzzle pieces, the newly unearthed segments have been cleaned and reattached with the seams filled.

With the restoration of the grave markers complete, the next project in the ongoing conservation work will be the reconstruction of the stone wall, which surrounds the plot. Sections of the schist wall have fallen down, while what remains suffers from missing and displaced stones and deteriorated mortar joints. Built sometime before 1882, the stone wall originally featured a cedar shingle cap, which was replaced by cast concrete capping during a 1927 restoration. The Yeakel Cemetery Preservation Committee is currently soliciting bids from experienced masons to determine the scope of this next phase.

A tour of the cemetery will be held on Saturday, September 22 at 1 p.m. to introduce visitors to this hidden gem and discuss the conservation of the tombstones. Tickets are $15 and available at yeakelcemetery.ticketleap.com/cemetery-tour/. Proceeds support the ongoing conservation work. The Yeakel Cemetery can be accessed behind the Chestnut Hill Lodge at 8833 Stenton Avenue. A grass path behind and to the left of the Chestnut Hill Lodge building leads to the cemetery.

Can’t make the tour? Please consider supporting the Yeakel Cemetery by making a donation today. To donate, please visit: www.yeakelcemetery.com or mail a check to:

The Schwenkfelder Church Yeakel Cemetery Fund,

Attn: H. Drake Williams,

2111 South Valley Forge Road,

Lansdale, PA 19446