Stoke Ground Base Bed Bath stone masonry for a new tracery window that includes an Armatherm thermal barrier between the interior and exterior stonework was one of the features visitors were able to see when Chichester Stoneworks invited customers to the premises it now shares with Szerelmey Conservation in October.

The new tracery window in production during the open day is one of four to be included in an extension to a church in Redhill, Surrey. It showed how the most traditional of masonry can be adapted to modern building requirements and regulations.

Visitors were also able to see the combination of hand skills and computer-controlled machinery used to work stone these days. Chichester Stoneworks’ latest investment – its Omag CNC workcentre – was being put through its paces carving a stone bust of a former provost of Eton College. Guests were invited to have their own heads scanned, using the company’s 3D laser scanner, as another demonstration of the technology employed in contemporary stone and conservation work. A raffle was held so that one of the scans would be used to cut a stone bust of the winner on the Omag.

Those who came to see the works included local dignitaries and customers and clients from further afield, including architects and consultants that had travelled to the company’s premises in Chichester from London.

Managing Director Adam Stone told his guests that Chichester Stonemasonry had invited them because it “wanted to demonstrate to you the changing face of stonemasonry” and to show how it was at the forefront of the technological changes taking place.