Polished Ruby Red Granite

Un-polished slate is a compressed layer of stone that is very strong and durable and takes hand carved lettering well. It can be carved only or a white wash of paint applied. Blue / grey in colour.

Un-polished Portland limestone is the classic headstone material. Cream in colour, it lends itself to beautiful, deep, hand carved letters. The V cut of the carving will help form a shadow in the letter and therefore, highlight is not required.

Un-polished Nabresina limestone is light grey in colour and is slightly denser than Portland stone. It contains small, darker grey shells that add to its appearance and which makes it harder and more durable than Portland stone. Smaller, machine cut letters would be more suited to this material.

Un-polished White Marble stone is beautiful when new and carves deep letters due to its softer composition. From Italy, white marble is the best choice for more intricate designs that require shaping and hand carving, like the pages of a book. It is however, more prone to erosion over the years and requires more cleaning and maintenance than other materials used.

Polished or un polished, granite is the hardest of all the materials and requires very little maintenance over the years. Machine cut letters are required with a highlight to allow them to stand out from the colour of the stone. As it is such a hard stone, less shaping is used and a memorial will have a more flat finish to it rather than the intricate design that could be achieved with marble.