Memorial stones are a lasting tribute and memory to our loved ones, it is a beautiful, unique & personal stone that will last for years to come. It is important that you find the right stone so you can then chose the perfect shape, writing and picture you would like featured on your memorial stone.
A while back we wrote about memorial materials and just recently we thought we would revisit the different type of memorial material types.
Memorial stones usually are made from Yorkstone, marble, limestone, granite, slate and other similar materials. This article will take you through the different types of memorial stones.
Slate
Slate is a fine grained metamorphic rock that is originally composed from volcanic ash. Slate is a tough stone that can give the memorial stone a smooth texture and also takes lettering very well, leaving a professional finish. At Rustic Stone we craft the very best welsh slate headstones, we only use the best slate available in the UK. All our slate stone remembrances look absolutely delightful and will last for hundreds of years.
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock which is composed of rock grains. Sandstone was used for memorial stones around 1650 -1890 due to its tough durability. Sandstone tends to be durable and is easy to carve, allowing the stone to have detail. We use a good mix of traditional and modern engraving techniques to ensure our customers receive the very best in high quality sandstone memorial plaques.
Yorkstone
Yorkstone is a term is a term for a variety of sandstone, specifically mined from quarries in Yorkshire, UK, that have been worked since mediaeval times. York is superb stone to use for any quality memorial. We highly recommend Yorkstone Memorials for anyone who wants a beautiful headstone that will last for hundreds of years.
Marble
Marble is a non – foliated metamorphic rock that is composed of carbonate minerals. Marble has become very popular over the coming years as it has a polished and clean look to the memorial stone. However marble can be expensive and just like limestone weather conditions can make the stone fade over time.
Granite
Granite is a igneous rock that has a granular texture. Granite is a hard and tough rock that can be difficult to inscript so a professional in granite would need to be hired to do the lettering. Nowadays carving of the letters is done by using computer rotary bits to add letters and patterns of any choice.
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary type of rock which is commonly composed of grains. Lettering on the limestone memorial can look elegant and smart but due to limestone not surviving extreme weather conditions, this can make the stone fade over time.
Glass
Using glass as a memorial is nothing new and in fact people have been making all types of memorials using glass for hundreds of years, from glass memorials grave markers to glass remembrance windows.
Wood
Wood remains one of the easiest methods of crafting a memorial and is still used widely today. While wood can rot, nowadays it’s possible to treat wood so it lasts much longer, back hundreds of years often people didn’t have any tools of any type and would simply use a tree as the marker and hand engrave a message on the tree next to the burial site.
Plastic
It’s not often that plastic material will be used for a people’s tribute, some people see plastic as cheap and tacky. Plastic is man made will not last for hundreds of years and the color of plastic will fade due to sunlight. However, due to the advancements in 3D plastic printing, it’s likely that this method will increase over the next few decades, hopefully they can make this material less tacky and last longer than it does. Should be noted but 3D printers support a wide range of 3D printing plastic materials.
Did you know?
- The earliest gravestones were made out of a stone named Feildstone.
- Granite memorials are considered the best due to their smart appearances.
- In the earliest burials the lid of a coffin was made of stone and used for the headstone that was laid over the grave.
- Some people opt to have their own cement memorial stones and these can be found in some cemeteries.
- The word ‘Epitaph’ means the saying on gravestones
- In the victorian days, the type of stone would show how wealthy your family was.
