There are Chancellor’s Regulations in place which guide what is permissible. This is a link to the current Diocese of Winchester regulations:
Any plan for a headstone will need to fit within these regulations.
When you have decided what you want to do, then the usual practice is to discuss this with a stonemason. Quite a few of the memorials in our churchyard have been placed by Lockerley Stonemasons and by Marcus Hoare Banks, but you are welcome to choose a different stonemason too. The important thing is that the stone that you decide on fits within the regulations above.
Before you commit to a purchase, the design needs to then be signed off by the priest of St Mark’s. Attached below is the application form, that will need to be completed in duplicate and sent to us (enquiries@penningtonchurch.uk) with the fee. The fees are set nationally each year – the fee is to be made payable to St Mark’s PCC and can be confirmed at the time of contact:
The application will need to include full detail of the monument and inscription – the stone masons will usually do this for you and send the form to St Mark’s.
Please do not proceed with finalising or purchasing a stone until this has been signed off. We can only sign off things that fall within the regulations linked above.