It has taken nearly four years and cost about £800,000 to open the new Blisworth limestone quarry at Churchfield Farm near Peterborough, but now the stone that has been used for centuries in some of the region’s most important historical buildings is available as building stone from this new source from Churchfield Stone.

Paul Robinson, a Director of Churchfield Stone, is glad he can finally get on with extracting the Blisworth limestone from the new quarry now that all the surveys have been completed. 

The fact he has gained planning permission and is able to do so, in spite of some local opposition, he attributes in no small measure to Professor Geoffrey Walton. “I think it was critical in obtaining planning permission that he was involved,” says Paul. “His direction and advice have been invaluable.”

And continue to be… because Professor Walton is now also helping Churchfield Stone in its planning application to open another Blisworth limestone quarry about two miles away with beds up to 800mm thick that will yield sizeable block.

Paul Robinson knows the value of Blisworth stone because he has been using it ever since he first started his building company, PGR Construction, in the area 25 years ago.

Blisworth stone has been used for centuries as a building stone, notably in churches and most famously for Sir Thomas Tresham’s Lyveden New Bield, now maintained as a ruin by the National Trust. New Bield is a mile or so from the newly opened Churchfield Quarry.