Visitors to Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries will see neat rows of headstones, usually carved from Portland stone.

Each stone is the same size and shape, conveying the equality of the sacrifice.
Carved on each is the regimental badge or country emblem, the name, rank, date of death, regiment, religious symbol and, if requested by the family, a personal inscription.

Most graves are separate, but in some cases, where the headstones are touching, the fallen may have been buried in a group or in a trench.

Larger cemeteries contain the Stone of Remembrance, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, twelve feet in length and usually set on three stone steps. The stone bears a quotation from the Bible , chosen by Rudyard Kipling: "Their Name Liveth For Evermore". The stone represents those of all faiths and none.

The Cross of Sacrifice, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, is set on an octagonal stone base, and it bears a bronze sword on its face. It represents the religion of most of the fallen and the military nature of the cemetery. The Cross comes in four sizes dependent on how large the cemetery is.

Many cemeteries contain special memorial headstones, which have an explanatory superscription such as "BURIED NEAR THIS SPOT". This might indicate uncertainty as to the exact location of a grave.

Another example of a special memorial is the Duhallow Block, so named after a cemetery near Ieper where it was first used. These Blocks are erected to the memory of those whose graves had been lost or destroyed in later battles. They bear the words, from the Bible, chosen by Kipling: "Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out."

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is one of the world's leading horticultural organisations, with more than half of the 1,750 acres of ground under our control given over to horticulture.

The elements of structural and horticultural features in our cemeteries combine to create the effect of an 'English Cottage Garden', as advocated by the Commission's first Horticultural Adviser, Gertrude Jekyll, in the early 1920's.

Each headstone border is planted with a mixture of herbaceous perennials, alpines and floribunda roses. The plants immediately in front of the headstones are low-growing, so as to avoid obscuring the personal inscription at the base and also to prevent soil splashback during rain or irrigation.

Taller plants are interspersed between the rows and, where appropriate, terminal plants are placed at the ends of headstone borders. Lawns are planted according to the availability of water and the prevailing climate. 

Maintenance is a year-round task for our 900 gardeners. Throughout the growing season there is a regular round of mowing, hoeing, edging, dead heading and shrub pruning.  When growth ceases, attention turns to the winter tasks of cultivating and replanting the headstone and back borders, relevelling the turf, closing in borders that have become too wide and pruning and training trees and shrubs.  In carrying out these tasks the Commission constantly evaluates new ideas and new equipment and efficiencies.