What text should I use?

The choice of wording on the memorial is a personal thing of all and we would urge you to think carefully about this.

A memorial should record certain basic details:

• The name of the deceased
• Their date of death
• Their date of birth or their age.

Beyond this it may mention their family, address, occupation or other interests. An appropriate verse of poetry might complete the inscription. A selection of texts and phrases can be seen on our web page Ideas for Headstone Inscriptions.

Choosing the font and style of the lettering

Lettering on a memorial can be done in 3 ways:

• Handcut.  Our memorial mason is highly skilled in the traditional methods of hand cutting the granite and natural stone to create unique letters and numbers to suit your requirements.
• Sandblasted.  Sandblasted letters can achieve nearly most fonts that you are used to using on your computer to provide a smooth, even finish.  We will look at the kind of lettering you want and offer and number of choices. 
• Machine Cut.  Machine cut letters can look like hand cut letters, but with more uniformity and choice over the fonts available.

What lettering styles can I chose from?

Lettering style should be appropriate to the design of the memorial as a whole; our memorial mason can help you with this.  Choosing the right lettering style can make the memorial look attractive without the need for any other ornamentation. We can finish letters in gold leaf, silver paint, or left natural (cut only). Remember when stone is wet natural cut letters will darken temporarily.

We can provide a wide range of text styles (fonts), but if you have one in particular in mind, we will try to use it providing it is suitable for engraving and complies with the regulations of the particular Churchyard.

What ornamentation is available?

Just as lettering makes a statement about the person being remembered, this is also true of ornamentation.  It can depict a person’s job, their favourite hobby or pastime, a personal achievement or just simply something they liked.

Ornamentation can also be symbolic:

• A rose is a symbol of everlasting love
• A lily denotes purity
• An olive branch or a dove indicates peace.

We can create personalised motifs for engraving from photographs, jewellery, even just an idea.