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When the former Hadspen House was bought, in 2013, by Koos Bekker and his wife, Karen Roos, we knew they would have exciting plans for the estate. But none of us could have predicted the huge, and vital, role Hadspen Quarry would play supplying stone to this architecturally significant project.
From the quiet Georgian manor house that stood within its 300-acre estate, to The Newt in Somerset, a 900-acre visitor attraction drawing the rich and famous from London and beyond. The complex boasts an exclusive hotel and spa, extensive gardens, a working cyder press, cafés, a butchery, and even Villa Ventorum, the most ambitious reconstruction of a Roman villa ever undertaken in Britain.
Named the Best Boutique Hotel in the World by The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2023, we’re proud to say we’ve worked with the estate team every step of the way, supplying traditional Hadspen Stone and our beautiful Blue Lias, as well as several bespoke products.
Entrance Barn – Internal Wall
Farm Shop – Flooring
The Farm Shop – Walling
One of the first areas to be designed and built, Area 1, comprised the entrance barn and visitor area as well as a working cyder barn and shop. It’s the first thing people see when they arrive at the estate. And it’s the area that showcases the widest range of our products.
For the entrance building, a stunning traditional Somerset tythe barn, we developed a new walling
product, to the exacting specifications of architects b2 Architects, Benjamin Beauchamp.
This beautiful stone can be seen throughout the inside of the entrance barn, alongside our traditional Blue Lias flooring.
Outside the entrance barn, a large cobbled courtyard gives way to a shop, a cyder barn with working cyder press and cyder bar. As well as a gorgeous glass house. Our team at Hadspen Quarry handcrafted and delivered much of the architectural masonry in this area.
Courtyard – Cobbles and Setts
Cyder Press – Ashlar and Dressed Walling Stone
Toilets – Flooring and Bespoke Skirting
In these pictures you can see the buttresses and cappings on the gable ends of the entrance barn roof, as well as the beautiful arches in the cyder press. These were particularly time-consuming as they were made individually, here at the quarry, working to architectural drawings. They were then segmented, taken to the Newt in Somerset site and painstakingly reassembled.
Look out for the stunning stone firepit, handcrafted by local, Somerset stonemason, Tom Trouton, using our Blue Lias stone.
The Clock House – Honed Floor Tiles and Semi Dressed Walling
Hadspen House Atrium – Antiqued Ashlar Walling
Hotel Bathroom – Honed Wall Tiles, Flamed Flagstone Flooring
The conversion of the main Hadspen House and stable yard, into The Newt’s hotel accommodation, has taken a number of years. And it’s been done to the incredible standard you might expect from such a prestigious project.
The Hadspen Quarry team worked closely with architects Simon Morray Jones and project managers at The Newt to understand the flooring and walling needs for the different areas of accommodation.
We then worked through the options, based on our quarrying and production techniques and the characteristics of our stone.
In the event, only one of our standard products was used for this area – our Semi Dressed Hadspen Stone. For all other elements, we worked to develop new products that would fit the precise requirements of the designs.
Spa – Bespoke Blue Lias Hearth
Wild Swim Area – Blue Lias Paving
Spa Area – Blue Lias Stone Floor Tiles
While a swimming pool might sound like a relatively straightforward endeavour, the spa at The Newt was anything but. In fact, we went through a lengthy process to produce Blue Lias Tiles with the perfect finish. We also arranged for slip testing to ensure the end product would be safe for use throughout the spa area. And when it came to the pool design, each of the tiles had to be handmade to fit into specific trays. That meant bringing those trays back to the quarry to double check every tile before taking them onsite.
Newt in Somerset Spa – Bespoke Swimming Pool surround and Flooring
Spa Area – Hadspen Stone Semi Dressed with Blue Lias Plinth Course and Flooring
Originally a cow byre, the building that was to be converted into the spa was of historic significance. Building regulations therefore required that extra attention was given to making sure the stone matched perfectly with Hadspen House itself.
Spa Treatment Area – Blue Lias Window Cills
Spa Area – Bespoke Stone Staircase
Swimming Pool – Blue Lias Bespoke Surround
Did you know? The Newt in Somerset has been awarded the highly coveted Three Keys Award by the Michelin Guide. One of only 14 such properties in the UK and Ireland, the award celebrates not only the service and facility elements of a hotel but also its architectural beauty and the quality of its interior design.
Villa Ventorum – Semi Dressed Walling Stone
Roman Villa – Blue Lias Coping Stone
Inside the Villa – Blue Lias Flooring
Arguably the most ambitious part of the transformation of the grounds of The Newt, is the full reconstruction of a 3rd century roman villa that once stood on the land. Discovered in 1832 and further excavated in the 1970s, the owners knew of the remains. But it took some time to work out how they wanted to incorporate them into the visitor attraction they were developing. In the end, working with architects Stonewood Design and planning consultants AZ Urban Design as well as The South West Heritage Trust, the team masterminded an incredible project. They decided to not only preserve the remaining structure, but to reconstruct the entire villa as it would have looked AND functioned. And not only that, they were determined to do it using the original materials and building methods.
So we were thrilled when they approached us to provide a number of local products to help make sure the reconstruction was a true to the original as possible.
This was no small job, however, and the attention to detail was outstanding, from both the architects and the project team.
Initially, the builders required our beautiful Hadspen Stone for the structure of the building itself, covering the top of this with lime render to create the characteristic rounded corners. We also provided Blue Lias Flooring tiles to cover both the internal and external areas. Perhaps the most impressive part of the project, however, was the reconstruction of the bathing house and the working hypocaust to provide heat and water. From the excavation it was clear the Romans had used Blue Lias slabs to cover the top of the hypocaust and then rendered over it. So despite the cost – and the fact that in the end the Blue Lias would be invisible – that’s the approach the project team took.
Bespoke Blue Lias Sink Unit
Handmade Candle Bowls
Blue Lias Herringbone Walling and Crazy Paving
Most challenging for us, as a small independent company, were the conversations about the roof. We were asked to provide 19,000 roof tiles, all of which were bespoke handmade, in order to cover the entire roof of the villa in Blue & Yellow Lias. And that was no mean feat. But we like a challenge, we like to give our customers exactly what they want, and we’re always happy to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in. In the end it took two full-time members of our team an incredible five months to
produce the required number of tiles. But the result is stunning
We also took on a few unique projects during the villa reconstruction, including making Blue Lias sinks and stone bowls that were sunk into the walls to contain oil lights.
If you’d like to learn more about this architecturally significant project there’s a full write-up in the RIBA Journal.
And while these projects have been wrapped up, we’re excited to say that development at The Newt in Somerset continues. With many exciting projects in the pipeline, including a butchery department at Avalon Farm to increase supply of beautiful local meats to the site. As well as the redevelopment of local Yarlington Lodge. In the last couple of years we’ve also provided stone for another project close to Koos’ heart – The Emily Story Museum in Cornwall. A tribute to the life of suffragette Emily Hobhouse, who saved the lives of thousands of women and children held in British concentration camps in South Africa in the Second Boer War. Inspired by Emily’s story and her family links to Hadspen House , Koos bought her childhood home near Liskeard in order to honour her memory.
QUARRY OFFICE OPENING TIMES
Monday 9AM – 3PM
Tuesday 9AM – 3PM
Wednesday 9AM – 3PM
Thursday 9AM – 3PM
Friday 9AM – 3PM
Saturday – Closed
Sunday – Closed
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Call 01963351205 or 07970937841
Hadspen Quarry Somerset
Grove Farm Quarry, Lime Kiln Lane, Castle Cary BA7 7NX
Architectural Masonry Stone Blue Lias Stone Walling Stone Blue Lias Flooring
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