Wells Cathedral Stonemasons

UK QUARRIES ARE SLOW TO RESPOND TO WELLS CATHEDRAL STONEMASONS’ APPEAL FOR 1,000 UK BUILDING-STONE SAMPLES

BRITISH BUILDING STONES FACE EXTINCTION – JUST LIKE WILDLIFE

West-based leaders in preserving historic stonemason skills wants to build the UK‘s first “database” of building stones

Quarry companies throughout the UK have been slow to respond to an appeal to contribute small samples to help create the UK‘s first “database” of more than 1,000 different building stones.

Wells Cathedral Stonemasons, one of the country‘s few remaining companies dedicated to preserving and teaching the medieval stonemasons‘ skills, wants to produce the country‘s first collection of more than 1,000 different building stone varieties.

According to Simon Armstrong, a director of the Somerset-based company: “Recent decades have seen the number of UK quarries shrink dramatically. Many of the stone types that make up the UK landscape are disappearing.

“We currently have samples of more than 200 different stone-types, which may already be the biggest collection in the country. But we are aware of at least 1,000 different UK stone varieties”, he added.

The company has asked all remaining quarries, and the owners of ancient buildings, to provide 4-inch square samples of their stones. But the response has been disappointing.

“With stone-quarries reducing at their current rate, this is our last chance to capture a database of the many different stones that have been used in building Britain‘s landscape”, said Simon Armstrong.

“We have already lost production of so many traditional UK building stones: but we need samples of those stones to be able to find the closest match – whether from the UK or overseas”, he explained.

“We also want to provide a permanent record of those lost stones”, said Mr Armstrong.

Wells Cathedral Stonemasons have asked quarries to provide technical information on their remaining stone types, including porosity, density, and slip-resistance.

“As we expand this ‘database‘ of UK building stones, we shall make it available to everyone, including English Heritage, academic institutions, and professional bodies, like RIBA”, he said.

“At a time when English Heritage is struggling against environmental opposition to preserve Britain‘s wealth of different stone quarries, our ‘database‘ of samples could become the only record of the country‘s rich history of different building stones”, said Mr Armstrong.

“Our collection will create a reference for stones used in every area of the country, providing a means of identifying every stone-type for every conservation project”, he added.

The company already has a policy of trying to secure supplies of disappearing stone-types. For example, the closure of quarries producing Beer-Stone, the feature-stone for buildings in South Devon and Dorset, prompted Wells Cathedral Stonemasons to buy the last output from those quarries.

“We have built a stock-pile of many threatened stone-types: but the continuing loss of regional quarries is putting more stones on the ‘endangered list‘, and out-pacing our ability to be the sole source of supply for lost stone-types”, said Mr Armstrong.

ENDS 22nd November 2007

For further information please contact Violet Ridge, Sturgess Van Damme, on 01275 349011 or email violet@sturgessvandamme.co.uk