Last year we made the Forever Loved Rainbow Memorial Bench for the babies and infants section at St Helens Cemetery, commissioned by the Friends of St Helens Cemetery. (You can read how that bench came together here.) This year the Friends asked us to make the way in: an archway so that families walking into that part of the cemetery pass under something gentle, colourful and full of life.
A garden you walk through
Across the top, “RAINBOW GARDEN” is carved letter by letter and painted on a rainbow band, with soft clouds above it and a little cloud beneath that says forever Loved — the same words as the bench. Down both posts, layer upon layer of hand-cut leaves, acorns and flowers climb towards the rainbow, and the creatures of a storybook wood are tucked among them: butterflies and ladybirds, bees, an owl, a hedgehog, a squirrel, a hare, and a badger at the foot of one post. Children find something new every time they look.
Why these photos are against our shed wall
We'll be honest: these aren't glossy pictures. They were taken in our workshop yard in Mid Wales just before the arch left us, against the shed it was built beside. We could have dropped it onto a computer-generated garden, but we'd rather you saw exactly what we made, where we made it. If you've ever wondered whether we're a real workshop — this is it, and you're welcome to visit.
The cemetery is finishing drainage work in that section before the arch goes in, and the Friends tell us they've seen it, think it's beautiful, and can't wait to put it in the special place it was designed for. As soon as it's standing alongside the bench, we'll share photos of it at home.
Memorial arches and memorial gardens
A memorial arch marks a threshold — the entrance to a remembrance garden, a baby memorial garden, a school garden in memory of a pupil or teacher, or a quiet corner at home. Paired with a memorial bench, it turns a patch of ground into a place. This one is built on the design of our Studfold trail arch, proven in busy public places, and every carving and colour can be changed: the words, the names, the animals, the flowers.
If you're planning a memorial garden for a cemetery, school, hospice or family, start from the Rainbow Garden Memorial Arch and tell us about the place and the people it's for. Bereavement services, councils, schools and charities can order by purchase order.
