What do you think of when you think of Cotswold Stone? Perhaps exquisite country houses, cottages and quaint pubs, nestled in the rolling hills of ‘The Cotswolds, which itself spans across five counties of Great Britain including Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
Stone History
The stone was actually discovered by the Romans who used it to build towns and cities all across the Cotswolds. The stone also features in various architectural masterpieces throughout the UK. Buildings including Blenheim Palace, some of the Colleges in Oxford and Sir Christopher Wren’s landmark, St Paul´s Cathedral, for which stone from the village of Taynton were used.
If you have ever visited the Cotswold region you will notice many of the fields and roadsides are separated with low walls that have been built from Cotswold stoneware. These iconic walls date back to the 18th and 19th Century when the Enclosure Acts were passed. The Enclosure Acts were a series of Acts of Parliament that empowered enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land that was previously held in common. Erection of stone walls, using no mortar was considered to be more financially viable than planting hedgerows.
The skilled craftsman who built the walls settled the stones into a shape that ensured natural drainage of any rainwater. These originals walls still stand tall, two hundred years on.
Stone Usage
Cotswold Stone is not only striking in feature but also completely versatile and can be used for both indoor and outdoor building work. Let’s take a look a some of the many ways this stone can be incorporated into commercial property use.
Patio and Paving: Durable and long-lasting, these slabs make the ideal investment solution to your outdoor space. Available in a selection of sizes means that even the smallest of ground footage can be transformed into an attractive all year weather surface. Use of different colours and sizes can also create a striking feature area and help in creating specified zones in your gardens.
Carparks and Pathways: Cotswold Chippings also known as Cotswold Buff are an innovative angled gravel, ground up from large blocks of Cotswold Stone. These bite sized pieces come in an attractive shade of cream are a quick win for either rejuvenating or expanding your car park area. They can also be used to clearly identify pathways that lead to and from your property and look equally attractive either as a wet or dry stone, during periods of inclement weather.
We like the chippings from Stoneware House, a Derbyshire based company. They offer chippings in a variety of sizes, depending on your individual need.
Fireplaces: Cotswold stone fire surrounds can make a really cosy addition to your lounge areas. A fire surround can become a beautiful feature and offer a warm welcome to wet and weary travelers and soggy dogs with muddy paws!
Designs can be crafted to suit the ambience of your property, from contemporary to traditional.
Stone Supplies Cotswold located in Gloucestershire have some beautifully handcrafted and individually made surrounds all produced from the finest Cotswold stone.
And how about Furniture?
Here at Woodberry of Leamington Spa we have some very attractive outdoor furniture pieces that house the famous Cotswold Stone. Our eye catching and splendidly crafted Gabion Range is innovative in design whilst having many functional benefits. These handsome units come in a range of uses; our Gabion Poseur table stands at 1,100mm hight and is great for drinking! The welded cages can be filled with the famous Cotswold Stone and then topped with a sturdy wooden top planks. Then there’s our Gabion Bench set; built to seat 6 people, the table and benches are 1,800mm long and are simply great for dining.
People generally ask us about fixing units for our furniture which we happily advise on and supply however for the Gabion Range, once you’ve filled the galvonised metal cages with Cotswold Stone, these benches and tables are not going anywhere!
We also sell individual ‘ton builder bags’ of Cotswold Stone straight from the quarry. These bags have just enough sand coloured rocks to add to the furniture cages of one Gabion Set.
Woodberry is all about quality; it’s imperative that we continuously deliver products of excellence which is why we choose to use Cotswold Stone.