Renovation & Restoration Services

R Banks & Son can offer a full repair, renovation, and restoration service for your headstone. Our time served expert memorial masons are of the highest standard and you can be rest assured that our experts can undertake any aspects of stone masonry.

Over time the UK weather can have a huge impact on memorials from simple aspects such as eroded gilding, weathering to the stone surfaces, sinking into the ground particularly in wet areas of church yards, to the more complex restoration of century old memorials damaged purely by time.

Whatever your needs we are absolutely confident that our highly skilled and dedicated team can assist you at this time.

Below are a few examples of recent restoration works we have carried out.

Our first pictures of this beautifully crafted white marble piece which had stood in the churchyard for well over a century, enduring many years of the British winter!

From the side elevation you can the stone had begun to sink into the grave on the front edge and had lost its level and as a consequence also become a safety risk.

This picture of the rear elevation shows how much the stone had begun to pitch forward and lose its level. The once white marble is now weathered and degraded.

The once proud raised lead lettering has eroded and fallen away in places. Also form this picture you can see the effects of weathering on the marble.

Further pictures of the raised lead lettering show the effects of decades of weathering, again highlighting the degradation of the marble finish.

Picture of the lower base from the stone where we have initially just begun remove the surface of the marble to reveal the original beauty hidden behind its current exterior.

A picture here showing yet more early stages of this lengthy restoration of the marble bases. You can clearly see the striking white against the current exterior.

This picture shows just how well the marble is beginning to come back, you can clearly see the ivy design as a contrast to the resurfacing works we have carried out this far.

The stone is now completely re surfaced, and the original white marble has been brought back to life. The stone is now ready for its next stage of refinishing.

Here you can see our masons have marked the ridges that are to be hand carved back into the ivy design. At this stage we are still early in the process of refinishing.

Our stone masons have prepared the ground and reseated the stone, and are making preparations for the levelling process. The stone has been re lettered and re polished.

One of our stone masons here again checking the level and the fixing of the base ensuring that the stone is seated correctly prior to final fixing.

Our stone masons can be seen here removing ground from behind the stone in preparation for the levelling of the ground and the re-turfing of the grave as requested.

The total area of the grave is levelled using layers of sharp sand and top soil, making sure that the ground is heavily compacted between each layer.

Once the ground has been levelled a layer of top soil is spread across the grave ensuring a smooth blend between the new surface and the existing surface.

Our stone masons can be seen here laying the new turf to the grave area and checking the level of the ground surrounding the grave.

Again this picture shows the ground being re-turfed by our stone masons, and the level of the new turf and how its blended to the existing landscape.

A picture of the almost completed stone, where the ground has been levelled and faded out towards the front of the picture. This area will be seeded once the season allows.

Picture here showing the stunning white marble now polished to its original beauty, and the ongoing turfing works.

A side elevation of the stone showing it to be straight and true, & the grave area now levelled. The dark background showing how striking this century old memorial has become.

The stone and turf now complete, the whole area was to be grass seeded once the weather permitted. This century old memorial now ready to grace the next century.

We wish to thank Mr Stock for his kindness in allowing us to display these pictures to you, and for giving us the opportunity to restore this beautiful stone to its former glory.

R Banks & Son (Funerals) Ltd

This century old headstone had been a victim of the extreme weather conditions we find here in the UK. The stones base had become frost damaged and split causing the stone to collapse.

The stone was restored on site and as requested by our client we continued with the tradition and hand cut and blacked the lettering. Our stone mason can be seen here refinishing certain detail areas.

Due to advances in fixing technology the headstone base was no longer required, we fitted this headstone with dual NAMM anchors allowing us to fix it direct to the ground.

Our stone masons once again levelling and re-turfing the surrounding areas of the grave at the clients request. You can see here the newly hand cut letters flowing perfectly with the existing inscription.

The finished headstone seen here drying in the sunshine. The stone has been restored to its former glory and we have no doubt it will continue to do so for generations to come.

We wish to thank Mrs. Roby for her kindness in allowing us to display these pictures to you, and for giving us the opportunity to restore this beautiful stone to its former glory.