Long, Strong History: Concrete and Cast Stone.

Robbie Kinsella, organiser of the regular Architectural Salvage auctions in Diss, is no stranger to artefacts made from cast, or reconstructed, stone. Whether it be in the form of building trims, decorative feature pieces, fountains, statuary or garden ornaments such as urns and benches, his popular sale usually contains an enticing array of this refined building material.

I was under the impression the term “reconstituted stone” inferred relatively recent production. The fact that it is a generic term for precast concrete, used as masonry to simulate natural-cut stone, or sculptured as if by an artist’s chisel, only cemented the concept for me. However, research has revealed some interesting historical facts worth sharing.

Cast stone effectively dates to ancient Rome, when the Romans developed “opus caementitium”, a type of concrete made of lime with aggregates of sand and crushed rock, which provided them a structural material to replace their previous use of quarried stone, such as in the vaulted arches and gateways of the Colosseum and for the large span dome of the Pantheon.

Cast stone can be made from white and/or grey cements, manufactured or natural sands, crushed stone or natural gravels, and be coloured with mineral pigments. It can replace many common natural building stones including limestone, brownstone, sandstone, bluestone, granite, and slate. It featured in the building of the City of Carcassonne, France, in about 1138, and the earliest reference to artificial stone uncovered in England relates to Sutton Place, Surrey, where Henry VIII’s (1491 – 1547) brewer is recorded as having used “artificial stone or brick extensively”.

The creation of Coade Stone, a fired ceramic stoneware rather than a cement-based product, represented the first architecturally significant use of simulated stone in the UK. Businesswoman Mrs Eleanor Coade (1733 – 1821) bought Daniel Pincot’s ailing artificial stone business in Lambeth in 1769. The company thrived under new ownership and Coade Stone was used extensively for classical detailing from around 1770 onwards by notable architects including Robert Adam, John Nash and Sir John Soane. Coade Stone was used on the rear elevations of Buckingham Palace, for the Westminster Bridge lion and the Ham House pineapples.

Meanwhile, along with growing industrial prosperity and planning development, reconstructed stone was extensively used in London during the 19th Century and producers vied to perfect the art of manufacture. Dutchman, van Spangen, is recorded as having established an artificial stone manufactory at Bow, London, in 1800, and many others joined the market including Felix Austin who utilised newly invented Portland cement as one of his ingredients. Around 1840, Austin entered partnership with John Seeley and in 1841 they published a catalogue, “Collection of Ornaments at Austin & Seeley’s Artificial Stone Works for Gardens, Parks and Pleasure Grounds”. The firm continued until about 1872.

Coade Stone declined in popularity towards the middle of the 19th Century, whilst use of cement-based cast stones has continued with increasing popularity to the present day, which is, no doubt, why I considered the concept “modern”.

Fully illustrated catalogues available online at twgaze.co.uk. Architectural Salvage Tuesday 22 October. Coade stone mask to be sold on Thursday 5th December.