Carving stone by hand

Stone carving is the part of the trade where craft is most visible. Everything we carve is worked by hand with mallet and chisels, the way carved detail on Cotswold buildings has always been made — because hand-cut letters and mouldings catch the light in a way machine-routed work simply doesn't.

We take on both new commissions and restoration carving: replacing eroded detail on period buildings with newly carved stone that matches the original work.

What we carve

  • House name and number plaques — see house signs and numbers, which covers lettering, fixing and stone choice in full.
  • Date stones and commemorative stones — marking a build, an extension, an anniversary or a family event in carved stone.
  • Lettering and inscriptions — carved lettering for gate piers, lintels, benches and memorials.
  • Replacement architectural detail — re-carving eroded finials, kneelers, label stops, corbels, mouldings and other dressed detail on period buildings, copied from the surviving work.
  • Garden and landscape features — carved copings, ball finials, pier caps, sundial plinths, troughs and bespoke garden pieces.
  • Bespoke commissions — if you can sketch it, we can talk about carving it.
Five hand-worked stone mouldings on a pallet, freshly cut to profile
Mouldings worked to profile by hand in the workshop, ready to fix.
A turned stone baluster with a square base and cap standing on the bed of a workshop saw
A baluster turned from solid stone, on the saw bed in the workshop.

How a commission works

  1. Brief — you tell us what you have in mind: the wording, the setting, rough size, and anything you'd like it to echo (a period, a typeface, existing detail on the house).
  2. Design — we draw the piece to scale, letter-spaced properly, and agree the design with you before any stone is cut. You approve the drawing, not a description.
  3. Stone selection — we choose a stone fit for the job: fine-grained enough to hold the detail, durable enough for its position, and matched to its surroundings.
  4. Carving — the piece is cut and lettered by hand in the workshop.
  5. Fixing — we deliver and fix the finished piece: built in, pinned, or mounted as the setting requires.

Lead times depend on the intricacy of the work and the jobs ahead of yours, so if a piece is wanted for a particular date — a wedding, an anniversary, a completion — tell us early and we'll be straight with you about what's achievable.

Restoration carving

Weather is not kind to carved detail. Finials lose their tips, hood-mould stops lose their faces, and crisp Victorian lettering slowly softens into shadow. Where carved elements have eroded beyond repair, we carve replacements: recording the surviving detail, matching the stone, and cutting new work that sits honestly alongside the old.

This work often forms part of a wider stone restoration project, and on listed buildings we provide the drawings and specifications needed to support a consent application.

What carving costs

Carved work is priced by the piece: the stone, the size, and above all the hours of carving in it. A simple incised house number is a very different job from a deeply carved plaque or a replacement finial. Send us a sketch or a photograph of what you have in mind through our quote form and we'll give you a realistic price and timescale — free and without obligation.

Where we work

Carved pieces travel, so we take commissions from anywhere — but our fixing and restoration carving work is concentrated across Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds, including Winchcombe, Cheltenham, Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold and Cirencester.

Frequently asked questions

What stone should a house sign be carved in? For most Cotswold properties, Cotswold limestone is the natural choice — it matches the house and weathers in sympathy with it. Where finer detail or higher durability is wanted we can suggest alternatives, such as other British limestones, and explain the trade-offs.

Can you copy existing carved detail? Yes. We record the surviving work — measurements, profiles, photographs — and carve replacements to match. Where detail has eroded completely, we base the design on matching features elsewhere on the building or on period precedent, and agree it with you (and the conservation officer, where relevant) first.

How long does a commission take? Simple lettered pieces are typically a few weeks from approved design; intricate carving takes longer. We'll give you an honest timescale with the quotation.

Do carved pieces need maintenance? Very little. Good stone, correctly detailed and fixed, just weathers. We'll advise on anything position-specific — for example, keeping planting from growing over a plaque.