In the beginning of 2013 the Metal Links Project met with the church warden of Ysbyty Cynfyn Church Ceredigion. The church and locals were concerned that gravestones may be going missing and they also wanted to know more about their church and its former parishioners to help them with interpreting the site. The Metal Links saw this as a perfect opportunity to learn more about the site that may be able to tell them more about the miners that may have lived and worked in the area. Ysbyty Cynfyn Church is situated next to an old metal mine, Temple Mine and the records that survive from these times talk about the owners and mine managers but fail to mention the names of the miners themselves. The Metal Links Project saw the opportunity to work with the local community to survey the gravestones that could then be used to search census records that could tell us more about who was buried there and their families.
Throughout 2013 volunteers from the local community worked with the Metal Links Project to transcribe, take photographs, record condition and decoration of all the moments. This has resulted in a comprehensive study of the site. From all the graves recorded only one had a mention of a link with the mine. However through census work we now know about a third have a mining connection which means we can finally start peopling the landscape. It also showed us how much people moved around the UK looking for work in mine sites, with one family travelling all the way from Cornwall.
The project has been successful in bringing the community together but also helping them to understand their local church better.