Practical guidance, skilled workmanship and long-term continuity
Burslem designs, crafts, installs and restores memorials for churchyards, cemeteries, and public spaces across Kent.
Established in 1880, we have longstanding roots in Kent and East Sussex. Our team can guide you through the choice of memorial, stone, lettering and design, as well as the relevant permissions and installation.
Learn more about our memorials, or speak to us about a particular churchyard, cemetery or existing stone.
Our work includes new headstones and gravestones, additional inscriptions, stone lettering, carving, cleaning, and restoration.
Every commission begins with a discussion about the location and what is required. This is important because the setting affects the available materials, dimensions, finishes, and fixing methods.
Design, inscription layouts, stone preparation, and workshop work are managed by our team. We also prepare permit paperwork, liaise with the relevant authority where required, and arrange installation.
Burslem’s early work included sandstone houses and churches across Kent and East Sussex. Following the First World War, the company helped meet the need for individual and public memorials, including hand-carved and engraved work in Portland Stone.
Today, we continue to work throughout Kent from our workshop and showroom in Frant, near the Kent and East Sussex border.
Kent contains churchyards, local-authority cemeteries and privately managed burial grounds. Their requirements can differ, so advice should be based on the particular location rather than a general county-wide rule.
Churchyard memorials are normally governed by diocesan and local requirements. These may affect the type and colour of stone, surface finish, dimensions, lettering and decorative details.
Cemeteries have their own regulations and often provide a wider choice of stone and design, although this cannot be assumed in every case.
We can check the applicable requirements, explain what is likely to be suitable and manage the application process.
Burslem provides:
We work with memorial-quality granite, limestone, sandstone and slate. Suitability depends on the location, regulations, appearance and how the stone is expected to weather.
The appropriate method depends on the stone, the original work, the setting and the required finish.
For an additional inscription, the memorial will usually need to be removed so that the new lettering can be matched to the existing style, spacing and layout.
Restoration work is assessed individually because the method must suit the material and its condition.
Our workshop and showroom are in Frant, East Sussex, close to the Kent border. We regularly undertake memorial work throughout Kent, but do not describe the showroom as a Kent branch.
Yes. Requirements vary between locations. We can establish which rules apply and advise on materials, dimensions, finishes, lettering, and approval requirements.
Yes. In most cases, the memorial is removed so that the inscription can be completed in the workshop and matched as closely as possible to the original lettering.
Yes. The work may include cleaning, repointing, inscription work or wider restoration. The proposed method depends on the stone and its condition.
Call: 01892 750120
E-mail: enquiries@burslem.co.uk
You can also arrange a visit to the showroom to see samples in person.
