Nowhere is this more important than in the care of structures created from natural stone, of which there are countless beautiful examples among England's heritage.

Many people may claim to be experts in choosing and working with stone, but the best way to make sure you entrust your work to a genuine expert is to choose a company in membership of Stone Federation Great Britain.

Their skills are put in the spotlight by the Federation's prestigious national awards, which are held every two years and feature categories ranging from "new build" to "repair and restoration."

Last year award winners included St.George's Chapel in Windsor Castle and a £34million conservation and restoration programme at Birmingham Town Hall.

Other schemes to be featured during the London awards ceremony included the restoration of Darnley Mausoleum in Kent and projects at Blackpool's Holy Trinity Church and Cinderford Methodist Church.

At St.George's Chapel, contractor CWO carried out three consecutive phases of conservation and restoration with a further project - restoration of the South Choir - taking place this year.

Birmingham Town Hall was re-opened by the Prince of Wales after being closed for ten years. An imposing neo-classical Grade 1 listed building by architect Joseph Aloysius Hansom it was hailed when first opened in 1834 as "a remarkable attempt to apply modern purposes to a style of structure which belonged essentially to Greek temples."

Restoration required repairs costing £4million, carried out by 30 masons and carvers, as many as possible recruited locally. Contractors Stonewest, together with Birmingham City Council, spearheaded an apprenticeship scheme to allow local youngsters the opportunity of training on such a prestigious project.

Recently the Federation has published a definitive guide to best practice for the cleaning of internal and external masonry surfaces. The 36-page publication covers the cleaning of stone, brick, terracotta, concrete and faience.

It has been produced by specialist members of the federation, with assistance from English Heritage, and is intended to become the industry's recognised standard for stone cleaning.

Jane Buxey, chief executive of Stone Federation Great Britain, commented: "The federation and its member companies work hard to provide training opportunities that will develop skills throughout the industry, not just for stone masons but for everyone from the quarryman to the floor and pavement layer. In addition we have award schemes for trainees and experienced masons.

"Our members are not just preserving our existing heritage, but producing the skilled craftsmen and women who will create and maintain the heritage of future generations."

The next Natural Stone Awards will be held in 2010 and further information on these, or any other subject connected with natural stone, can be readily obtained by contacting the federation on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; telephone 0303 856123. The web site can be found at http://www.stone-federationgb.org.uk/.

Scott Wilson

International consultancy group providing creative, sustainable, integrated strategies to meet planning, engineering, management and environmental needs.

Scott Wilson’s Heritage team is committed to providing high quality, objective advice on all aspects of the historic built environment.  The team comprises highly skilled professionals with diverse backgrounds including commercial archaeology, architectural studies and conservation.  A comprehensive and innovative range of in-house services can be tailored to meet the individual needs of the client, with extensive experience of working with statutorily and locally listed buildings, historic structures, conservation areas, scheduled monuments and historic landscapes:

• Pre-planning advice and strategic planning guidance
• Historic Buildings Recording (including photographic and measured survey; enhanced metric survey; rectified photography; and documentary research)
• Built Heritage Assessments, Historic Landscape Characterisation and Extensive Surveys
• Consultancy on a range of archaeological services
• Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental Statements
• Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans
• CAD, GIS and Graphics (including 3D computer-generated high-definition animation and solid modelling)

Recent projects include: 
English Heritage’s Places of Worship study;
Gloucester Quays – wholesale regeneration of Gloucester’s Quayside area
Wakefield Waterfront – waterfront redevelopment project including a number of listed buildings.

Scott Wilson Ltd
McLaren Building,
35 Dale End,
Birmingham
B4 7LN
T: 0121 212 3035
F: 0121 212 1938
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McMarmilloyd Ltd

Viewing can be arranged by appointment only.

Our two separate depots situated in rural Wiltshire also offer a comprehensive range of 1st quality  commercial Marble, Granite and Slate and other stones.  We also hold extensive stocks of carveable block including Pure Statuary, Alabasters, Soap Stones, Polyphant in addition to the more common Carrara types.

Ian MacDonald, one of the leading experts in Europe of Historic Marbles, also undertakes Identification, Consultancy and Lecture work.

Over the 25 years Ian has been in the Stone Industry he has established a network specialist suppliers, including our sister company V. Fontanili S.r.l. in Italy which enables us to take on any type of stone contract.

If you have any requirements, please telephone, fax or email us to discuss.

McMarmilloyd Ltd 
Brail Farm
Great Bedwyn
Marlborough
Wiltshire
SN8 3LY

T: 01672 870227
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www.mcmarmilloyd.co.uk

Fabco Sanctuary  

Services include.........

Window Protection:

Our specification of window guards for prestigious and historic glass backed by our indefinite guarantees is considered to be the benchmark that all others should follow.

New & Replacement Window Casement:

Fabco offer various ranges of period window casements as well as a ‘bespoke’ manufacturing service to ensure the character and aesthetics of a period or historic building is maintained.

Casement Restoration:

Our craftsmen specialise in the sympathetic conservation and repair of existing period and historic metal casement windows so that they can be enjoyed for many generations to come.

Gates and Railings and other Historic Metalwork:

Restoration and repair of all types of historic and period decorative metalwork, including wrought and cast iron. In addition to this we also other the manufacture of replica or new architectural metalwork.

Ferramenta:

Restoration, tipping or manufacture of ferrementa, glazing and saddle bars.

Isothermic Glazing:

A superior type of glazing frame offering the required support and longevity compared to the standard practice that raises many concerns.

The comprehensive experience we have gained from working with our clients over the years enables us to offer the highest quality workmanship combined with an unequalled level of service. We are more than happy to give free impartial advice and have helped many Authorities, Architects, Surveyors, and Contractors with their more difficult projects.

Clients include English Heritage, The National Trust, Welsh Heritage (CADW), Historic Scotland, The Church of England, town councils, and private houses.

Fabco
Unit1
Hobbs New Barn
Climping
Littlehampton
West Sussex
BN17 5RE

T: 01903 718808
F: 01903 718903
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http://www.fabcosanctuary.com/

Cox and Barnard

You will find examples of our work in Cathedrals, Churches, Ecclesiastical Buildings, Stately Homes, Country Cottages, business offices, football clubs and increasingly in domestic homes.

View an example of our work at the smallest chapel in London at The Brompton Oratory or contact us for other locations in the UK or for Cathedrals in other countries.

Discover the beauty of Stained Glass for yourself by contacting us and we will be happy to come and talk to you about your requirements. Alternatively why not call into our showrooms at Hove where we have literally hundreds of designs and examples of our work to help you decide how your finished design will look.

Our costs for creating your Stained Glass are very competitive and may be not as expensive as you might imagine.

Cox & Barnard
56 Livingstone Road,
Hove,
East Sussex,
BN3 3WL

T: 01273 734906
F: 01273 823035
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www.coxandbarnard.co.uk

Historic Property Restoration Ltd

Main depots and workshops in Ripon and Prudhoe support the head office in North Shields. Smaller bases in Doncaster, Hexham and Central Lancashire afford us the flexibility to service projects throughout the UK.
Quality, fine craftsmanship, attention to detail and a genuine sense of pride in our work are inherent throughout all our working practices. We boldly claim to have one of the finest groupings of skilled craftsmen in the field of historic property restoration.

Ecclesiastical Buildings

Our skills learnt on ancient monuments have readily adapted to ecclesiastical work and we are proud of our growing portfolio of church work.
We are happy to undertake all manner of repairs including stonework, roofing, leadwork, intricate joinery works and stained and leaded glass.
We have also completed a number of extensions to churches, the emphasis being to create something new which is sensitive to the old.
In addition to the church buildings we have undertaken repairs to tombs, monuments and gravestones and other works e.g. railings and paths to church grounds and cemeteries.
Church work brings with it additional requirements.
Scaffolding often has to be specially designed to protect roofs, the congregation or important interiors.
Often the work has to continue around the normal church functions.
On one project we have even stripped scaffolding at the end of one week and re-erected it the following week to ensure wedding photographs were not spoiled.

Cintec Anchors

Historically, the structural failure of buildings often resulted in the need for quite extensive, and costly, re-building works. However, the patented Cintec Anchor System now provides an alternative less invasive and far more cost effective solution to the structural problems we regularly encounter in historic structures. There are many different types of Cintec Anchor to suit various alternative applications – larger anchors can be used to create an effective ring beam, or where the inside and outside of a wall has lost its bond and the corework has dropped, smaller anchors can be used to invisibly tie the inside and outside faces of the wall back together. With pattress plates and bolted connections or angle cleats also able to be incorporated into the manufacture of the anchors,
the possible applications are very wide ranging.
As a trained and certified installer of the patented Cintec Anchor System, Historic Property Restoration Ltd is fully qualified to provide technical advice and to carry out the installation of Cintec Anchors – although our English Heritage background ensures we always keep one eye firmly fixed on maintaining the essential sympathetic approach required during the restoration of historic buildings.

Historic Property Restoration Ltd
Sandgate Hall
Albion Road
North Shields
Tyne & Wear
NE30 2RQ

T: 0191 257 0808
F: 0191 258 7533
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http://www.hprltd.co.uk/

Smith of Derby

For many years Smith of Derby has been creating and caring for the world’s greatest public clocks; from small church clocks to some of the most celebrated cathedral, commercial, private and station clocks.

Each year, our team of fields engineers, keep  over 4,500 of the nation’s clocks in good working order; from restoring and autowinding, to installing our state-of-the-art ChurchCAM security and fire detection system.

Smith of Derby Ltd
112 Alfreton Road
Derby DE21 4AU
Tel: 01332 345569
Fax: 01332 290642
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Bryan James Knowles

Vulcana, from its inception, has pioneered the high tech end of the gas appliance market, from the first glass fronted live fuel effect fires to fanned output balanced flue heaters and now powered flue, high efficiency convector heaters.

We manufacture our own products from our modern factory based in Sussex. We also work with key European companies to market new and innovative products. Vulcana's network extends throughout the U.K. with a full design, installation and after sales service capacity.

The product range has constantly evolved and provides heating solutions for all commercial applications where standard, domestic heating is not sufficiently robust.

30 Bridge Road,
Haywards Heath,
West Sussex,
RH16 1TX

0044 (0)1444 415871

0044 (0)1444 441433

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The Rooflight Company

This is the home of the inventors of the Original Conservation Rooflight®.  Much copied but never improved upon!

The Rooflight Company offers a wide range of innovative, market focused and design-led products for the marketplace. Underpinned by this ethos of innovative design, it is constantly evolving its product range and breaking new ground with its acclaimed, industry-leading concepts which contribute to some of the world's great architectural designs.

Founded in 1993 by architect, Peter King RIBA, the Rooflight Company created the original Conservation Rooflight® which continues to lead the marketplace as the best product in its class. Today, this award-winning organisation is rapidly developing in the field of contemporary architecture and interior design. This was underlined when the Rooflight Company commenced production of its world-leading rooflight innovation - neo® - in 2008. 

"Conservation continues to have a high profile in the building profession and the Rooflight Company's commitment to excellence in this field is well-recognised."
Jack Pringle, Past President of the RIBA

Tel:  00 44 (0) 1993 833108
Fax:  00 44 (0)1993 831066