Over recent weeks, the Memorial Masons have been working to restore the Thomas Neville family memorial, located in Rothesay Road Cemetery in Luton.
The stone, which has been in place for many years, was in need of repair. The kerb to one side had broken away, a tree was growing out of the inner area of the kerbset and the lettering needed re-gilding.
Given the age and size of the stone and the fact that the stone itself was solid and straight, work was able to be carried out on site.
The team set to work, digging out the large and wellrooted tree and replacing the missing soil. Whilst broken away, the existing kerbs were still in a good condition so were cleaned, drilled, dowelled and refixed into place. The original cement had failed and had to be replaced and red granite chippings were placed inside the kerbset.
Once this was done, the memorial was then cleaned and a few days later gold leaf was added to the inscriptions and left to dry. Once dry, the excess leaf was rubbed off and top soil and grass seed was added to the ground around the stone, taking the memorial back to its original condition.