Grab yourself a piece of history.

*10% off at the Natural Stone Show, ExCeL London, 30 April-2May on Stand D20*

To mark its centenary last year, Forest of Dean Stone Firms republished a piece of stone history – a book it first published in 1912 featuring the quarries of the 20 companies that owned United Stone Firms Ltd, five of which comprised Forest of Dean Stone Firms Ltd.

Beautifully produced both as a hard-back and soft-back, this facsimile edition reveals the stone industry as it was 100 years ago and offers readers a glimpse into the industry of the early 19th century, with information and black & white photographs of quarries and mines from which some of the great building stones of the UK were extracted.

As well as the Forest of Dean sandstone, which Forest of Dean Stone Firms sells today under the brand name of Forest Pennant, there is Wilderness, Ham Hill, Nailsworth, Portland, Bath, Mountecharles, Shamrock, DeLank, Dartmoor, Bristol Pennant, Keinton and Street, “all… supplied in Random and Dimensional Block, or Sand Sawn to sizes, or dressed ready for setting, and delivered to any Railway Station or Port in any part of the World.”

Nick Horton and Marcus Scott Russell, two of the owners of Forest of Dean Stone Firms, were keen to maintain the integrity of the original version of the book, so the new, beautifully produced facsimiles remain almost entirely as the book was a hundred years ago. The only concessions to it being a reprint are a legend on the spine that records the fact that this is the centenary edition of the original and a letter inside from Marcus, a descendent of the owner of the firm 100 years ago, explaining how the stone business has transformed and shaped his family through the generations.

The hard back version of the book is a numbered limited edition that sells for £50. The paperback version is priced at £35. They are A4 size.

Copies of the United Stone Firms Ltd facsimile book can be bought from Forest of Dean Stone Firms – call 01594 562304 or email mail@forestofdeanstone.co.uk. The numbered, limited edition hard back [ISSN 978-0-9574590-0-7] is £50 and a soft back version [ISSN 978-0-9574590-1-4] is £35. A 10% discount is being offered if you buy the book from the Forest of Dean Stone Firms stand (D20) at the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL London 30 April-2 May.