Work has just concluded at Willesden to conserve six monuments that are important because of the person they remember and the rarity and quality of their design. The United Synagogue engaged Cliveden Conservation Workshop to carry out careful treatment to the memorials and to introduce new specialist methods to caring for graves that could in future be replicated to others across the 21-acre grounds.

Join us for a special zoom webinar in partnership with Open House London and Cliveden Conservation Workshop to hear from the conservators and discover some fascinating stories of the people behind the monuments. These include two of Willesden’s Grade II listed memorials – the Rothschild and Rosebery burial enclosure and a tomb designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne Jones – and a monument to H. Samuel the jeweller.

The webinar will also allow the House of Life to share for the first time new discoveries about the incumbent of one of the six monuments whose story has been unknown for nearly a century.

Ben Newman, Stone Project Manager at Cliveden Conservation, is a SPAB fellow and award-winning stone mason.

With in-depth practical knowledge of all aspects of stone masonry and excellent management skills, Ben has managed sites for prestigious conservation projects at the Palace of Westminster amongst many others. Other notable projects Ben has worked on include: The City of London Cemetery, Harrods, Selfridges, St Pancras Station, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Brighton Pavilion and The Queen Victoria Memorial.

Demonstrating his passion and commitment to training, Ben sits on the Education and Training Committee at SPAB as a Fellow Member and on the Craft Training Committee for the Worshipful Company of Masons of which he is also a member.

Ben was Highly Commended for The Duke of Gloucester’s Award for Project Mason of the Year 2009 and is proud to have been involved with other award-winning conservation projects including Eric Parry Architects’ renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields which won the Europa Nostra Award in 2010.