A Richmond man has spoken of his shock after discovering that his mantelpiece was made from the gravestones of Canadian soldiers.

James Risk was renovating his family house in Strawberry Hill when he found that the hearthstones on his fireplace were tributes to former World War Two soldiers.  

Once flipped over, the two-and-a-half-foot white granite stones revealed the names of infantrymen, who ranged from the ages of 17-24.

The 31-year-old, who has lived in the house his whole life, said his family were “completely taken aback” by the discovery.

“You might see it on the internet, but you never think crazy stuff like this will happen to you,” he said.

James said he contacted the previous resident, who still lives on his road, but they were unable to establish the origins of the stones.

Richmond and Twickenham Times: The four gravestones bore the names of Canadian infantrymenThe four gravestones bore the names of Canadian infantrymen

The family contacted the Canadian Embassy, before tracing the graves back to Brookwood Military Cemetery in Woking.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission picked up the stones from Strawberry Hill last week, but James said his family are still perplexed by the mystery.

“Our best guess is that there were misprints in the engravings, so they were cheaper for whoever built the fireplace to use.”

“I just hope there are no dead bodies underneath my fireplace,” said James.