Member Article

Stone rises from Lumley Castle to North Yorkshire

A County Durham specialist repair and maintenance company has secured thousands of pounds worth of work to restore a number of historic landmarks in the North East.

Darlington-based Stone Technical Services’ restoration division is carrying out a range of works at Lumley Castle, St Mary’s Church near Barnard Castle and in Osmotherley, on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.

Stone’s restoration experts have worked on a variety of projects for Lumley Castle in Chester-le-Street over the last five years. This recent project will focus on stone paving repairs to the 600 year-old-castle’s West Terrace- used for many weddings and events- to make it safer and to ensure the listed-feature remains aesthetically preserved.

At Whycliffe, near Barnard Castle, Stone is restoring 200 year-old steps at St Mary’s Church for the Diocese of Middlesbrough. The church was built in the mid 1800s by a local architect and was originally a domestic chapel for the Tunstall family, a well-known local family at the time.

And in Osmotherley near Northallerton in North Yorkshire, Stone is working at the historic Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Grace, known as the Lady Chapel, to repair steps, carry out improvements to the internal decoration and complete vital structural repairs to the roof. The chapel was built in the 15th Century by monks from the nearby Mount Grace Priory and is now cared for, on behalf of the Diocese of Middlesbrough, by Benedictine monks from Ampleforth Abbey.

The three projects are worth in the region of £120,000 to Stone.

Stone Technical Service is one of the UK’s most experienced restoration and repair companies working on everything from small, community churches to St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Managing director of Stone Technical Services, Dave Stone, said: “We’re very privileged to work on some of the UK’s most historic landmarks and buildings- and no two are ever the same. They all do have one thing in common though and that is the need for highly-qualified masons who can carry out works sensitively to a strict schedule. This is vital- especially at locations such as Lumley Castle, St Mary’s and the Lady Chapel- as all are still used by the public and are popular North East landmarks.”

In 2012, Stone’s growth surpassed managers’ expectations with turnover peaking at around £2 million. The company opened a new Edinburgh office to add to its sites in London, Middlesex and Cheshire and its HQ on Kellaw Road in Darlington. Already in 2013 Stone has created five new jobs, taking staff numbers to 35, and is on target to increase its workforce throughout the year.

As well as historic restoration and repairs to churches and ancient buildings, Stone specialises in facilities maintenance, lightning protection, safety systems and high-level repairs, working with a variety of organisations such as local authorities and housing associations counting organisations such as English Heritage, the National Trust, the NHS, Teesside Power Station and British Waterways amongst its clients.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison .