Services
Subcategories
Additional Inscriptions
The craftsmen at Joseph Richmond & Son are fully trained in many different lettering techniques, enabling us to match the lettering style of any original memorial, regardless of where or when it was originally purchased.The size and style of lettering used on an additional inscription is, of course, dictated by the original lettering and we will ensure that the relevant methods are used to produce a perfect match to the original letters. Whether they were hand cut, using a hammer and chisel, machine cut, or grit blasted, we will be able to replicate them perfectly.
Please contact us for a no obligation survey of your memorial (free of charge) during which we will asses the condition of the stone and letters and provide you with a quotation for adding the inscripion you require and any other work you may wish to have done at the same time. We usually carry out your survey within a few days of you contacting us. Please note that we only carryout work in cemeteries within a 40 mile radius of Newcastle upon Tyne. We require the following infomation from you:
Your name and contact details.
The name and address of the deed holder to the plot.
The name of the cemetery in which the memorial is located.
The Grave and section number (usually found on the deeds to the grave).
The names currently on the memorial and the name you wish to add.
A photograph of the memorial can be usefull in helping us to locate the plot but is not essential
You can email us with this information here info@richmond-memorials.co.uk or call us on 01912280058 Monday - Saturday 9am - 4pm.
Cleaning & Renovations
Memorial Cleaning & Renovation
Natural stone is the most beautiful of materials when properly maintained. However the passing of time, local conditions and the weather can all have an adverse effect on the appearance of your memorial.
We can provide a full cleaning and renovation service to return your memorial to its former glory. Often we can make a very weathered memorial look as good as new and re-fix it to fully comply with modern standards for installation of memorials, thus ensuring that any future outlay on maintenance is kept to a minimum.
If a memorial is likely to prove uneconomical to repair we will advise you of this and will offer guidance on replacement with either an identical monument or a lower maintenance alternative.
If you would like a free, no obligation survey carried out on a memorial by an experienced mason to asses the cost of a renovation, please contact us.
Memorial Insurance
In conjunction with Bridge Insurance Brokers and underwritten by Royal Sun Alliance, we can provide a fully comprehensive, all risks insurance policy to protect against damage occurring to your memorial after installation in the burial ground.
The Stoneguard 05 policy provides cover for a period of 5 years for a one off premium. Please see the table below for the premium costs.
• Up to - £400 = £28
• £401 - £500 = £34
• £501 - £600 = £39
• £601 - £750 = £48
• £751 - £1000 = £59
• £1001 - £1250 = £71
• £1251 - £1500 = £86
• £1501 - £1750 = £101
• £1751 - £2000 = £117
• £2001 - £2500 = £142
• £2501 - £3250 = £167The above premiums include insurance premium tax at 5%
For memorials valued over £3250 please contact us for premium quote.
The policy provides cover on an ‘All Risks’ basis and covers most instances such as:
• Falling Tree
• Accidental Damage
• Storm Damage
• Lawnmower impact
• Staining
• Vandalism
• GraffitiIf you require further details please contact us.
Accessories
We have a wide range of accessories to complement your memorial ranging from photo plaques and tomblets to lanterns and statues. All can be securely fixed to your memorial by our experienced craftsmen. They can be added at the time of installation or later, as a gift to mark an anniversary or birthday perhaps.
Grave Care North East
At Grave Care North East we believe that your loved ones final resting place should be tended and maintained to the highest standards by professionals who are fully trained and experienced in EVERY aspect of grave maintenance.
Most ‘Grave care’ firms are NOT trained in memorial masonry and have a background simply in gardening or a building trade. As such they lack the specialist knowledge necessary to properly clean, restore or repair memorials.
Furthermore they often operate outside of the local authority rules and regulations put in place to prevent untrained persons from working on memorials in council operated burial grounds. This can lead to expensive mistakes being made by such firms when carrying out work on valuable memorials made from delicate natural materials such as Natural stone, Slate, Marble and Granite. Most could not even tell the difference between the different types of stone!For this reason we would urge you to look beyond the slick websites of some firms and establish exactly what background the firm you are to be employing to work on your expensive memorial has in Monumental masonry. If they are not bona fide Monumental masons we would urge you not to allow them to clean, renovate, repair or re-erect your memorial.
You should also check with your local authority’s bereavement services (cemeteries) department to establish whether the firm is an approved contractor registered with them to work in the cemeteries and on what basis (such as providing gardening type services only or a full monumental service).
We have seen many instances of bereaved family’s paying for garden centre type kerb edging to be installed at considerable cost, only for them to be informed by the council that they are in fact illegal to install in council run burial grounds! By which time you, the client, has paid for the work.
No north east local authorities (at the time of writing) allow the installation of garden centre kerb edging in their cemeteries, as they cannot be installed to the exacting standards laid down in the N.A.M.M. code of working practice, which governs standards of installation for Monumental masonry.
Our Services.Our ‘Grave Care’ service is an extension of our Monumental masonry service not a ‘cheap alternative’ to it. Designed to help maintain your memorial by offering regular visits to the grave to provide services such as:
• Inspect the general condition and structural integrity of the memorial.
• Tidy, weed and tend the plot.
• Provide fresh cut flowers or bedding plants if required.
• Carry out any other tasks you may require such as fresh turf laying or seasonal wreath laying.
• Provide fixed price repair work to the memorial if required, carried out by our own qualified Monumental Masons.
Photographic evidence is of course supplied of all work carried out.
You can rest assured that all grave care work is carried out by a fully trained and qualified monumental mason and as such will improve and extend the life of your expensive memorial, not damage it. Why take the risk of using anyone else? You may end up paying for it in the long run.
Below we would like to show 2 pictures of a memorial we professionally cleaned. we hope these pictures give a brief idea of how well we can restore your stone to its original state.
Glass & Stone Chippings
Every so often you may wish to add or replace glass or stone chippings within a memorial you have. we have a large variety of these avaialble for order and collection. We usually supply them in 25kg bags.
We can also supply a large variety of colours that are not pictured just contact us and tell us which colour you would like and we can arrange for pictures and prices to be sent to you.
Our guidlines for filling a standard size kerbset with these would be 3 bags for full size or 1 bag for a quarter plot or childrens memorial.
If you have any queries regarding how many you will need please get in touch and one of our team can advise you.