The BACSA Heritage Value Assessment Tool has been devised to help assess the historic significance of a cemetery in order to prioritise projects and applications for BACSA grants.
It can be used by anyone who knows a cemetery well to give it a score against each criterion from zero to three. The criteria are grouped into four sections relating to historic, architectural and landscape significance and to the survival and condition of the cemetery site.
Seventeen well-known cemeteries have already been assessed with the following scores out of a possible score of 72, which indicates the highest significance and best survival:
| Garrison, Seringapatam | 64/72 |
| The Residency, Hyderabad | 58/72 |
| St Mary’s on the Island, Chennai | 53/72 |
| Kotagiri | 52.5/72 |
| St Thomas, Ootacamund | 51/72 |
| Tulsipur, Cuttack, Odisha | 51/72 |
| Nicholson, Delhi | 50/72 |
| Christian/Cantonment, Ambala | 46/72 |
| St Andrew’s Cemetery, Bhuj, Gujarat | 46/72 |
| St Stephen’s, Ootacamund | 46/72 |
| Lovedale, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu | 45/72 |
| Wellington, Coonoor | 45/72 |
| Tiger Hill, Coonoor | 43/72 |
| Badli-ki-serai, Delhi | 42/72 |
| Kanlog, Simla | 40/72 |
| Explorers’, Leh, Ladakh | 39/72 |
| British Cemetery, Malakand, Pakistan | 35/72 |
We encourage members and others with an interest in the cemeteries of South Asia to use the tool and help to build up a database of assessed cemeteries. If you are familiar with a European cemetery, isolated grave or monument in South Asia, please complete the table and share your assessment with BACSA by emailing – secretary@bacsa.org.uk.