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Gravestone & Memorial Cleaning

Careful, unhurried cleaning of headstones and memorials — by hand, without pressure washers or harsh chemicals, with photographs sent to you afterwards.

£5m public liability insurance

All cleaners DBS-checked

Free quotes, no call-out fee

Before & after photos every job

A different kind of job

Treated the way you would do it yourself

A memorial is not a driveway, and it is not priced or cleaned like one. Lichen, algae and weathering build up over years until the lettering is hard to read, and often the family is simply too far away, or finds the visit too difficult to do alone.

We work slowly, by hand, and we photograph the memorial before we start and after we finish so you can see exactly what was done. If we find damage — a crack, a loose fixing, flaking stone — we stop and tell you rather than working on regardless.

Hand cleaning with water and soft brushes only
No pressure washers, no wire brushes, no acids or bleach
Biocide used only where the stone type allows it
Permissions checked with the parish or burial authority first
Photographs before and after, sent the same day
Grass edged back and old flowers cleared as part of the visit

Before After

Drag the handle to compare · Illustrative example — not a photograph of our own work

Pricing

What it costs

Priced on the size of the memorial, the type of stone and how much build-up there is. We confirm the figure after seeing a photograph, and there is no charge at all if we decide the memorial should not be cleaned.

Most requested

Single memorial clean

Price on request

One headstone, cleaned by hand in a single visit.

Full hand clean of stone and base
Grass edged, old flowers cleared
Before and after photographs

Enquire

Ongoing upkeep

Price on request

Quarterly, twice-yearly, or on anniversaries you choose.

Light clean each visit
Fresh flowers placed if you wish
Photos every time, no reminders needed

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Family plots & kerb sets

quoted

Multiple memorials, kerb sets, ledger stones and larger monuments.

Assessed on site first
Priced as one visit
Staged over two days if needed

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How it works

Nothing happens until you have agreed it

Tell us where it is

The cemetery or churchyard, the name on the memorial and the dates. A photograph helps but is not essential.

We check and assess

We confirm the rules with the parish or burial authority, find the memorial and assess whether it can safely be cleaned.

You approve the price

A fixed figure and what it includes, in writing. If we do not think it should be cleaned, we say so and there is no charge.

Cleaned and photographed

The work is done by hand, and photographs come through to you the same day.

Where we will not proceed: memorials that are leaning, loose or unstable; stone that is actively flaking or delaminating; and anywhere the burial authority has not given permission. Cleaning an unsafe memorial risks damaging it further, and a monumental mason is the right person for that work.

Memorial cleaning questions

Do I need permission to have a memorial cleaned?

Usually the memorial belongs to the person who commissioned it or their heirs, so their agreement comes first. Churchyards and cemeteries also have their own regulations, and some have a list of approved methods. We check with the parish or the burial authority before we do anything, and we will tell you if permission is refused.

Do you pressure wash headstones?

No. Pressure washing drives water into the stone, opens up the surface and can take the sharp edges off lettering. Everything is done by hand with water, soft brushes and, where it is appropriate for the stone, a biocide that carries on working slowly over the following months.

Can every memorial be cleaned?

Most can be improved. Some cannot safely be touched — flaking sandstone, delaminating slate, loose or leaning memorials, or anything where the fixing is unsound. In those cases we stop, tell you what we have found, and suggest a memorial mason rather than pressing on.

I live too far away to visit. Can you still help?

That is a large part of why this service exists. Give us the cemetery or churchyard, the name and the dates, and we will find it, clean it, and send photographs before and after. Many people arrange it around an anniversary or a birthday.

Can you re-paint or re-gild the lettering?

Re-lettering, re-painting and re-gilding are memorial mason's work rather than cleaning, and doing them badly is worse than leaving them. We are happy to point you towards a monumental mason locally.

Can you keep coming back?

Yes. An ongoing visit keeps a memorial tidy — a light clean, grass edged back, old flowers cleared and fresh ones placed if you would like. Photos come through each time, and it is priced per visit once we have seen the memorial.