Boden and Ward Stonemasons Ltd – 25 years
June 2008
Boden and Ward Stonemasons Ltd – 25 years of Stone Restoration!!
Boden and Ward Stonemasons Ltd are celebrating successful trading for the last 25 years and have gained 7 awards during that time for their work. Most of the awards are from the Stone Federation Great Britain, but also from the Fountain Society and Museums and Heritage. They are a small, family run business based in the heart of Northamptonshire. Originally set up by Brian Boden and Ian Ward, it is now owned and run by Alex Ward and Sean Collins.
Boden and Ward are masons and stone carvers experienced in all aspects of stone repair and restoration. They undertake both small and large projects with the same attention to detail.
Their stone consultants are Brian Boden and Sean Collins. They are regularly approached by Architects and clients who have a stonework project in mind and need advice and/or budget costings. Brian Boden has been in the trade since his apprenticeship and has over 40 years experience, Sean started with John Bysouth in London and is an experienced draftsman as well as a highly accomplished mason. He carried out the most difficult part of the carving on the restoration of the Perseus and Andromeda Fountain at Witley Court for English Heritage. Together they make an excellent team and give honest advice with recommendations on any aspect of either internal or external stonework
The current success of the company is due in no small measure to its highly trained and dedicated team. They believe past experience must be continuously built upon, so Boden and Ward have 5 apprentices, ranging from first to third year, and two improvers. They continue to train as an investment in the future of their craft.
The team work all over the country, the furthest North they have been is on St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands. They replaced a 6 metre wide rose window, taking stone in blocks from the coast down to their Northampton workshops, sawing and working the new window and transporting it back up to Kirkwall and fitting it. This project won them the Restoration Award at the Stone Federation Great Britain biannual Natural Stone Awards in 2004. The same year they entered a project at Witley Court in Worcestershire for English Heritage. The restoration of the Perseus and Andromeda Fountain in which there was some very demanding work. Two new Nereid fountains were carved to match the originals that were no longer there. They each measured 2 metres high by 2 metres long and weighed approximately 6 tonnes. They were carved out of Portland stone and each one took 16 weeks to carve. The main fountain consists of Perseus, the Dragon and Andromeda, in total around 220 tonnes of Portland stone. This not only had to have stonework repairs but also many new carved pieces such as the dragons teeth, horses ear, a finger and new left leg and both wings for Perseus. The standard of carving had to be very high to match the original. They got a Commended for this project, and the fountain was officially opened by Prince Charles who was particularly interested to hear about the training that they do to preserve the trade for future generations. Boden and Ward carried out another phase of work in 2006/07 at Witley Courtto restore the East Parterre steps for English Heritage. This involved the reinstatement of 490m of Forest of Dean sandstone steps, 150mm thick, 500mm wide, each weighed 500kg and were lifted into place by a crane.
As well as restoration, Boden and Ward specialise in producing individual pieces of stonework for clients such as fireplaces, staircases or carvings. Each project is designed especially to meet the client’s requirements and all are unique. They do not have a standard range of fireplaces,but will make anything that the client requires. A plastic template is made of the fireplace so that the client can get an impression of the size and shape before the fireplace is made. They are also very experienced at producing and fixing stone staircases, which are becoming increasingly popular and there are not many firms who make them in stone. There is a high degree of skill needed to ensure they fit correctly, as once the steps are on site there is no margin for error when fixing. The staircases create a unique and lasting feature for the client.
Their first Pedrini CNC saw came in 2004 and another one was installed in 2006. These are programmed every night and weekend, as well as being used during the working day. They produce stone such as mullions, heads, cills and jambs for windows and doors, stone dressings, ashlar, copings, quoins, york paving etc – anything in stone that is required. They have a lathe on the CNC which produces stone columns or balusters. The stones they use are mainly limestones but some sandstone is also used. The stone is bought from the quarries inup to 7 tonne blocks. The Primary saw cuts the block into slabs, the slabs are then put on the CNC saws and cut up further, then they are given to a mason to carve and finish by hand, packed up on pallets and sent to site for the fixer masons to fix.
As you can see, the work requires a high degree of skill and the Company prides itself in not only producing high quality work but having a reputation of being a reliable and pleasant company to work with.
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