PLAQUES
We make plaques for the internment of ashes, as well as military insignia, commemoration plaques for municipal buildings, and house signs.
CREATING BESPOKE MEMORIALS OF CELEBRATION AND COMMEMORATION HAND CRAFTED, UNIQUE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURED USING TRADITIONAL METHODS
At Gray’s Stone Stone Carving Studio, we create hand-carved headstones, memorial plaques, and inscriptions with care. Whether you are looking for a traditional gravestone or something personal and distinctive, we’ll work with you to design something fitting and just as unique as the person to whom it is dedicated.
Our peaceful workshop in the Chalke Valley, near Salisbury, serves families across Wiltshire and the UK. Everything we make is drawn and carved by hand using chisels and mallets, just as stone carvers have been doing for centuries. The hand-drawn letters bring the inscription to life, and lend a human touch that can’t be replicated. Our practices are built on maintaining a relationship with the materials with which we work.
Our small family business is focused on facilitating choices when it comes to memorial making, so we do things a little differently.
We work with you to make a fitting memorial. Together we create a design which represents and celebrates the life of the deceased.
You can be involved in both the design and the carving of the memorial itself, something that we believe in passionately. We’re proud to say that we have worked with clients in the design phase, from suggestions to sketching, giving you the opportunity to help to shape the stone and even adding your own marks to the memorial. You are also invited to join us at the site when we come to installing the completed memorial, to participate or to observe us in our work.
We use traditional hand tools and techniques, along with carefully chosen materials. The lettering and design work are hand drawn and carved, ensuring that all elements work in harmony and making each memorial totally unique.
Clear communication is so important, so we will keep you informed at every stage of the process.
At our initial meeting we sit down together, have a cuppa and talk about the life or lives of those to be commemorated. At this point we discuss the requirements, where the memorial is to be located and any ideas, including design and inscription.
The stone we use depends on where the memorial will reside, the scale of the lettering, and the environment. Some of this is dictated by regulations, which we can talk through.
After the meeting we will put a proposal and estimate together, which will be provided to you, with no obligation, and from there an initial drawing will be produced.
Estimates quoted will include; design, materials, carving and fixing the stone in position, licences and permissions (where needed). Estimates will remain valid for 90 days.
The cost of a gravestone can range between £3,000 – £15,000, depending on size, material, lettering, design and finish. We usually invoice at key points throughout the process, therefore spreading the cost.
Larger commissions with additional carving or sculpture will be priced accordingly as will smaller items, such as grave markers and plaques.
We take large stone sculpture commissions for: memorials, plaques, sculptures, garden features and architectural decorations for individual clients and institutions, such as memorial gardens, military, educational institutions and hospitals.
We have a collaborative approach to all work undertaken, whatever the project. The only restriction on what can be made is dictated by the material and the imagination.
To enquire about your bespoke design and estimate, please contact us today.
For those who have experienced the death of someone close, having a memorial made can honour their life, and we have found that being part of the process can help enormously.
We invite you to be as involved as you would like to be, from contributing your own personal touches in the design, through to carving the memorial itself. It all starts with a warm welcome, a wood-burning stove, a comfortable dusty sofa and a cup of tea.
The important thing is that you feel supported in this process.
Client Annie Rutherford agrees “[Henry] was incredibly patient and empathetic at this difficult time. It’s perfect – I couldn’t imagine anything better.”
Pearl John
Customer
Henry Gray made a beautiful headstone and ledger for my Grandparents and Mother. Designing, making and installing the memorial for our family was a process, perhaps part of our grieving process. I moved from dreading facing the fact that we needed a headstone – to celebrating that we had the most beautiful memorial in the Churchyard.
Pearl John
Customer
Beautiful work from lovely people.
Andrew Hall
Memorial Testimonial
Henry Gray’s workmanship was first class and he and his colleagues kept me fully informed at all stages of the process: a beautiful headstone lovingly produced. Altogether first rate work.
Charles W J Withers
Memorial Testimonial
We wanted to commission a memorial for our late parents. Henry and Tamsin were so helpful from start to finish. We decided upon a saddle stone with engraved sides. They kept us updated all the way through the project and met our expectations.
We are delighted with the result which is now in situ in private family woods.
Thank you.
L W
Memorial Testimonial
I’m very pleased with the simple and elegant pet gravestone Henry Gray has carved for us. The process of commissioning was easy and enjoyable, and the turnaround very fast. Many thanks.
Fiona Butcher
Pet Memorial Testimonial
If you have further queries about our hand-carved memorials we would love to hear from you. Please book an appointment above or get in touch.
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