Slate headstones

There are a number of slate outcrops across the British Isles. Each has its own particualr properties. In my monumental work I use Welsh slate and Cumbrian slate. Welsh slate is either purple or blue-greyin colour and tends to have a uniform texture with little surface variation, although it can sometimes contain some darker banding. The Cumbrian slates that I use are either blue-grey or green in colour. Green Cumbrian slate can have quite a mottled or banded surface.

Slate is an extremely hard, durable material which shows little sign of weathering over time. It is often given a polished – or honed – finish, which means that it doesn’t pick up much dirt or lichen. Because it is such a robust material, headstones made of slate can be thinner than those made of limestone or sandstone. Church and local authority regulations often allow slate headstones to be only 25mm (1 inch) thick, whereas limestone and sandstone memorials are required to be at least 75mm (3 inches) thick.

If a more natural effect is desired, slate headstones can be left with an unpolished, riven surface. This is the uneven surface that the slate naturally has when it is first split. I can source natural slate monoliths, unshaped by a quarry, which can work extremely effectively as headstones.