CWGC headstones - original hand-carved type

[Guest Pete Wood]

I realise that, today, replacement CWGC headstones are machine cut.

But the original headstones, as can be seen in this IWM photo (number Q100870), were hand-carved by stonemasons.

Is it possible to tell which headstones were carved by hand? If so, what are the tell-tale signs?

How many of the original headstones remain?

When did the machine replace the mason?

[Terry Denham]

RT

There is no easy answer to this as there were originally many companies involved and mechanisation was a creeping process.

By March 1921 over 120,000 headstones were on order from over seventy different stonemasons in the UK. Many found different methods to speed up production including devices to inscribe several headstones at once with the same badge.

I do not believe that production entirely by machine occurred until after WW2 - possibly when CWGC took over full production themselves.

As to how many hand cut stones are left - no idea but I assume that, if you look at the oldest examples in Le Treport, Forceville and Louvencourt (the first three cemeteries to be completed by CWGC in 1920), you would have a good chance of seeing a hand-cut original.

[Guest Brummy]

HI,

It is impossible to tell how old a headstone is from the carving, as most of the headstones are made from Portland stone this is quite soft and due to wear all inscriptions have to be refreshed every few years. But if you look very closly at the stone you will see that it is made up of millions of tiny fossilised shell fish. The longer the stone has been exposed to weather the easier it is to see the tiny shells. On newer replacement stones you can hardly see them at all. This only works with Portland stone and not the Marble and other stones you occasionaly see.

Brum