Since 1946
Memorials
Headstones, plaques and full monuments, lettered by hand in the yard. There is no hurry to any of it and no charge for talking it through.
The work
What it involves.
Most people who ring us have never commissioned anything before and have been given a leaflet by a funeral director. There is no need to decide anything on the first call, and no charge for as many conversations as it takes.
A memorial is a piece of stone, a shape, a finish and some words. We will show you stone in the yard rather than in a brochure, because a photograph of granite tells you almost nothing about what it looks like in North Otago light.
The lettering is cut by hand here in Severn Street. Sandblasted lettering is quicker and cheaper and we will do it if you ask, but hand-cut letters have a shadow in them that a machine cannot make, and in fifty years the difference is still visible.
Cemeteries have rules: permitted sizes, foundation requirements, and in some cases a permit that has to be applied for. We handle all of that. You will be told what the cemetery allows before you choose anything, not after.
How the work goes.
- 01 A conversation In the yard, or at your kitchen table, or on the phone. No cost, no obligation, and no decisions needed on the day.
- 02 Choosing the stone You see the actual material, outdoors, wet and dry. Most people change their mind at this point and that is what it is for.
- 03 The words We set the inscription and send you a full-size drawing to check. Nothing is cut until you have signed that drawing.
- 04 Cutting and lettering Six to ten weeks for most memorials, longer if the stone is coming from overseas.
- 05 Setting Foundation, fixing and a check on the cemetery's own requirements. We will send you a photograph the day it goes in.
The stone we use
- Oamaru limestone
- Cut from Weston, four kilometres from the yard. Soft to carve, pale, and it weathers to grey.
- Central Otago schist
- Bendigo and Cromwell. Hard, layered and grey-gold. Best split rather than polished.
- New Zealand granite
- Coromandel and Nelson. Takes a polish and holds an edge for a very long time.
- Imported granite
- Indian and Chinese blacks and greys where a colour is asked for that we cannot get here. Sixteen weeks.
Enquiries
Come and see the stone.
The yard is on Severn Street and there is no charge for talking something through, however long it takes.
03 434 7712- Yard and office
- 18 Severn Street, Oamaru 9400
- Open
- Monday to Friday8am – 4.30pmSaturdayBy appointment
- Working across
- North Otago, Canterbury, Central Otago, Southland