Lovell Stone Group is sponsoring the competition among the students, but it is you, the visitors to the Natural Stone Show, who will decide which of the four short-listed works (pictured on the right) will win. You can vote for the piece you like best at the Show.

Lovell Stone Group provided the blocks of Hartham Park Bath Stone for the students to work. The brief was fairly open, although the sculptures had to reflect in some way the City of Bath.

Both full-time and love2learn stonemasonry students spent a week creating the carvings that were to be judged by Lovell company Directors. The Directors visited the college to select the four they wanted to show on their stand at the Natural Stone Show.

It was the work of students Sam Bradley, Jeni Wood, David Lambard and Josie Baher that the Lovell Directors decided to take to the Stone Show.

The judges agree that all the students had produced impressive carvings, with work inspired by the topography, architecture and history of Bath.

Some of the students chose to focus on familiar scenes, such as the Royal Crescent and Pulteney Bridge. One chose to represent underground quarrying for Bath stone ancient and modern, represented by a bust cut in half, one half ancient, one modern. Another of the pieces selected is a reproduction of the gilt bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva, one of the best known relics found at the Roman baths of Bath.

James Hart, Sales Director at Lovell Stone Group, said during his visit to the College with his brother and Managing Director Simon Hart to make their selection of the four pieces for the Show: “The carvings were fantastic. We were really blown away by the quality of the pieces and also the interpretation of the brief.

“We were really impressed by how the students had run with the theme. I know they were coming in outside their normal hours of study, which shows a lot of commitment.

“What we’re really looking forward to is getting people from the industry to come along and vote on them.”

There will be a voting system on the stand, where tokens can be placed into one of four boxes, for each of the carvings. In May, Simon and James will visit Bath College again to present a cash prize to the student who gets most votes for their work.

Bath College stonemasonry lecturer Paul Maggs said: “The stonemasonry department at Bath College was delighted to be offered the opportunity for students to participate in the stone carving competition sponsored by the Lovell Stone Group. The students have worked enthusiastically to showcase their skills with outstanding results.

“We look forward to the next stage, where the work will be displayed at the Natural Stone Show in London.”