From famous buildings to prison porticos- no ‘Stone’ un-turned for NE experts

County Durham high level, historic and general maintenance specialists, Stone Technical Services, have secured a range of new contracts all over the country worth in the region of £250,000 to the business.

As the company continues to grow around the UK, Stone has been appointed to carry out a variety of projects around Yorkshire and across the south of England.

In London, Stone’s conservation masons are re-building historic boundary walls using specially-crafted bricks at Merchant Taylors’ Almshouses in Lewisham. The site, dating back to 1825, is home to around 40 elderly people and is owned by the prestigious Merchant Taylors’ company, one of the Great 12 Livery Companies in the City of London which were founded in medieval times.

Also in London, Stone’s experts are carrying out surveys and installation of lightning protection at the famous Hackney Empire, a Grade II-listed building used for concerts and shows.

In Windsor, Stone’s lightning protection division is working to install a sympathetically-designed system to Charente Hall, a multi-million pounds home built in a medieval style in 50 acres of former Ministry of Defence land.

At sites all over the UK, Stone has secured thousands of pounds worth of further work with English Heritage creating modern safety systems for historic and ancient buildings, similar to those designed for St Paul’s Cathedral in London. One of the projects is for Howden Minster in East Yorkshire where Stone’s restoration team is working to remove a weather station from the ruins, attached to the still operational church which was built by the Prince Bishops of Durham in the 14th Century and now forms part of the Yorkshire Turner Trail.

Over in West Yorkshire, a church designed by celebrated Victorian architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott, is undergoing condition surveys. St Mary the Virgin in Mirfield, under the Diocese of Wakefield, is undergoing a full tower survey and investigation of its metalwork and masonry in order to be preserved for future generations.

And finally, in North Yorkshire, Stone is carrying out surveys to the porticos at York Castle Prison for York Museums Trust.

Stone’s MD, Dave Stone, said: “The team is regularly working on projects- large and small- across the UK at sites of significant historic interest. The last few months have seen a real influx of projects as organisations get set for the winter months- our busiest time of the year. Thanks to our ability to offer everything from general maintenance to detailed historic repairs and systems designed specifically for ancient buildings, our work is being recognised by leading names who entrust their buildings to us.”

Stone Technical Services are experts in lightning protection, facilities management and general maintenance, building surveys, restoration and conservation, steeplejack services and safety systems and employs 35 staff.

The company is highly regarded around the UK for its work with organisations such as the National Trust, Ineos, Network Rail, British Waterways and the NHS as well as local authorities, architects and construction companies. The business has also been the primary contractor employed to work on St Paul Cathedral’s lightning protection for the last 15 years and also works on other high profile buildings such as Lumley Castle, the Royal Courts of Justice and Merchant Taylor’s.

Darlington brothers, Dave and Grahame Stone, established Stone Technical Services in 1998 and now have offices in Edinburgh city centre, near Stockport in Cheshire, close to Piccadilly Circus in central London and Pinner in Middlesex, as well as their HQ on Kellaw Road in Darlington.