Cotswold Stone is and has been, one of the most popular products for wall building across the ages. Its natural colour with its subtle traditional honey characteristics has a charm and beauty that other stones find hard to equal.

Smiths’ Cotswold dry walling stone, quarried in the northwest corner of the Oxfordshire Cotswold, is the genuine article and has all the warmth and subtly you would expect from the stone from this part of the country.

Its popularity has spread far and wide. Increasingly it is being used for a variety of modern construction work, for example: building of new Cotswold styled properties, conservation and restoration work, new property walling, landscaping projects and it is ideal for exterior and interior facing/cladding. It can also be used to face gabion baskets – if you are looking for a natural walling style effect for the gabion wall. See the photo in this article, where you will see the ‘faced’ gabion baskets being placed and fixed to form a ‘Ha Ha’. When completed only the face will be seen.

Smiths’ very knowledgeable craftsmen, hand select and roughly dress all the stone before it leaves the quarry, and depending on the usage, will supply a varying selection of stone sizes to suit each order.

The technical department at Smiths are very helpful and will give advice on any relevant questions; for example, a guide to the quantity of Cotswold stone required. Is it a single or double skin wall? What is the traditional way to top the wall – known in the Cotswolds as “Cock and hens”! Don’t be afraid to ask because if Smiths experts can’t answer an enquiry, as corporate members of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain they have at their fingertips details of the best qualified craftsman in the country.

We now have a well-established list of professional craftsmen who specialise in building with natural stone. You can find this on our website (see below) – and the builders have been listed by county, making it easy to find one near you!

Delivery, where practical, will be direct to the stone project, or builders are welcome to collect, if that is more convenient. The stone is normally sold in Smiths branded bulk bags, (approximately 800kgs of stone, depending on size of stone), but large ‘loose stone’ deliveries, with the Smiths tipper vehicles, can be arranged. Nationwide delivery of the Smiths Cotswold stone is also available.

For full details of all Smiths’ products and services, visit the website, www.smithsbletchington.co.uk

Or telephone: 01869 331281

Or Email: sales@smithsbletchington.co.uk