A cemetery or churchyard is so much more than just a final resting place for our loved ones.
For some time following a funeral, a loved one’s place of rest may be difficult to visit due to the sorrow and difficulty in coming to terms with the loss, but over time, a place of rest tends to become a place of peace and fond reflection for so many people.
It becomes the place where a loved one’s memory is best preserved and where family and friends of both current and future generations can continually pay their respects.
Most final resting places are adorned with a unique headstone or cremation memorial that provides something physical for us to visit and honour their life and memory.
With such importance placed on a loved one’s place of rest and the memorials we install as a tribute to them, it seems only natural for us to not neglect their memorial and grave so that we feel a sense of showing respect and doing right by them, while also ensuring the beauty of their burial plot is preserved for all visitors to appreciate.
Memorials Require Correct Level of Maintenance
If you visit any old graveyard, you’ll quickly see what the effects of neglecting a headstone or grave looks like, with worn, discoloured and broken memorials covered in dirt, lichen and debris, and overgrown sunken burial plots.
If left unmaintained, engraved lettering, fine etched designs and intricate carvings on a stone memorial can also become worn and weathered to the point of no longer being decipherable.
Many cemeteries offer something known as ‘perpetual care’, but this doesn’t mean that headstones and memorials will receive the focused care and maintenance they require.
This is because most ‘perpetual care’ plans involve cemetery landscaping work, public road and pathway maintenance – it very rarely includes the actual cleaning and careful upkeep of headstones and other memorials.
Soft Natural Stone Memorial Maintenance
The vast majority of memorials installed in a cemetery or churchyard are made from natural stones, such as granite, marble and sandstone.
Although these natural stone materials can last many centuries, without the correct ongoing care the engravings and delicate intricacies that are crafted onto memorials can quickly weather away.
This is especially true of softer stone memorials that are crafted from the likes of sandstone and limestone, as these materials are more fragile than a stone such as granite.
Therefore, these soft stone memorials require very careful cleaning techniques with the right tools to help them remain at their best year after year.
Professional Memorial Aftercare Services
Although it is possible to clean a headstone and keep a burial plot in order yourself with the correct tools, cleaning solutions and care, a busy life can make it difficult to carry out memorial maintenance duties on a regular basis.
Professional memorial aftercare companies can take away any worries you may have of cleaning a headstone or cremation memorial incorrectly, or of not being able to attend regularly enough, while giving you peace of mind as you’ll know that the memorial is being correctly monitored and maintained through all seasons.
What Do Professional Memorial Cleaners Do?
- Grass trimming
- Weed removal
- Full professional memorial cleaning
- Deposit removal
- Condition and stability checks
- Memorial detailing
- Aftercare visit reports
