Fully qualified stonemason Samantha Peacock, who has a Master’s degree in the archaeology of buildings, has joined the conservation team of Cliveden Conservation at the Bath workshop. She will work on projects primarily (but not solely) in the south-west of England.
Samantha has spent 14 years working in heritage construction. She has an NVQ 3 in both banker masonry and heritage skills. She is also a trained stained glass conservator, having gained the skill with Holy Well Glass, boosting her overall understanding of building conservation.
Her career began with an apprenticeship at Wells Cathedral Stonemasons, working on different types of limestone and sandstone producing masonry and mouldings in styles from Gothic to Neo-Classical.
She gained a placement on SPAB’s William Morris Craft Fellowship scheme and an NHTG bursary at York Minster, where she helped restore the Great East Window and conserve the 14th century iconography of the statue of St Peter.
While in York, she completed her Master’s degree in the archaeology of buildings and went on to become a self-employed stonemason.
Notable projects include the conservation of 18th century coade panels of the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford and working on masonry for the King’s Entrance on Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim.
Most recently, Samantha was contracted by Cliveden Conservation to help conserve the statues to the West Front of Wells Cathedral.
Tom Flemons, Cliveden Conservation’s Bath Workshop Manager, says he is delighted to have Samantha on board. “We’re really pleased that Sam has joined us and look forward to her becoming a key member of the team. Sam’s existing skills will be put to full use on some of the wide range of projects with which we are associated.”
Cliveden has also appointed David Bloxam as Project Manager for the Stone Section of the business.
With a solid background in stone restoration and construction project management, David comes with a wealth of practical and organisational skills.
Having completed an HND in Historic Decorative Craft at Lincoln School of Art, David spent five years with DBR carrying out stone restoration and stucco before joining Priest Restoration.
He quickly progressed to Contracts Manager, running major restoration projects including the West Wing of Somerset House, Kensington Palace façade and Knebworth House.
David was headhunted to put a team together to restore the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor near Versailles in France.
When he returned to the UK set up his own restoration business and set about restoring a 12th century private property.
For the next 10 years, he worked mostly on domestic properties, specialising in stonework, repointing and building limes, before becoming a freelance Project Manager for new builds and hotel buildings.
Eventually he became an Asset Manager working alongside clients such as Whitbread and the Landmark Trust.
He has now gone full circle and returned to the heritage sector, with his new position at Cliveden Conservation harnessing his knowledge and extensive experience of historic buildings, traditional craftsmanship and project management.
He says: “There is nothing more satisfying than returning something old back to its former glory, whether it is architectural or a vintage car (another one of my passions).
“Cliveden Conservation has some incredible projects, so this is a great opportunity for me to work with some of the UK’s finest conservators to deliver exceptional results.”