Two new sources of Cotswold Stone Walling have been added to the stones offered by Smith & Sons (Bletchington) Ltd – Burford Quarry, near the Cotswold Gateway town of Burford, and Rollright Quarry, near the Oxfordshire market town of Chipping Norton.

The Burford limestone is a creamy colour while Rollright has more traditional honey-colour characteristics.

Smiths is a corporate member of the Dry Stone Walling Association and says the new stones are ideal for the traditional dry stone walls of the Cotswolds, as well as for new hard landscape walling, housebuilding and exterior and interior facing / cladding.

They can also be used to face gabion baskets, if you are looking for a natural walling effect for a gabion wall, which is becoming a more common way of using gabions.

The Cotswolds is a traditional area of dry stone walling. Some of the walls are centuries old and sometimes require a repair. Smiths’ new source of this traditional product is ideal ­– locally sourced and available for delivery directly to site or for collection by builders.

Dry stone walls are a traditional means of field division and many miles of them can still be seen in the British countryside as well as in gardens. Different areas have their own distinctive styles of laying that is appropriate to the local stones.

The technical department at Smiths is happy to give advice on any of the uses of the company’s stones – for example, the quantity of stone required for single or double skin walls and the traditional way to cap a wall (known in the Cotswolds as ‘cock and hens’).

The stone is normally supplied in Smiths branded bulk bags of approximately 800kgs of stone (depending on the size of the stones) but ‘loose stone’ deliveries by the Smiths tipper vehicles can be arranged. The stone is not just for local use, though, and delivery nationwide is available.

Smiths Bletchington is a family-owned business that has been trading for more than a century. The two additional sources of stone mean it now operates five quarries in and around Oxfordshire.

The company also recently won recognition from the Mineral Products Association (MPA) for its commitment to biodiversity. The Natural England-sponsored award was presented at the annual MPA restoration awards event in London. Smiths was commended for its newly opened Rushy Common Nature Reserve, developed as part of the restoration of the on-going operation at Gill Mill quarry in west Oxfordshire.