Recent work
A Recent Loft Conversion
Rooflight conversion — turning dead roof space into a proper room. See more on our loft conversions page.
Purbeck stone walling, brickwork, repointing, roofing and extensions across Swanage, Langton Matravers, Studland and the Isle of Purbeck — a town built out of the ground it stands on.
Swanage is a stone town on an exposed coast, sitting over old quarry workings. All three of those change the job.
Boundary and garden walls, retaining walls, steps and terracing, and repair to existing stonework in local Purbeck limestone. This is the material Swanage is built from — it lays, beds and weathers differently to brick, and in a conservation area it is often what planning expects rather than a preference.
Repointing, brick and stone repair, chimneys and boundary work. Salt-laden air off the bay pulls pointing apart faster here than almost anywhere we work, and old stone and soft brick both want lime rather than cement. More on our brickwork →
Pitched and flat roofs, slipped tiles, ridge and verge work. Older Purbeck property carries stone slates — heavy, laid in diminishing courses, and needing structure underneath that a modern concrete tile roof never asks for. Not a job to hand to someone who has only ever laid interlocking tiles.
Rear extensions, outbuildings and loft conversions. Herston and the post-war housing have the space and the simpler ground; the old town and the seafront are a more careful proposition.
Stone, salt and old workings underneath. Swanage has a set of constraints that exist almost nowhere else in Dorset.
Purbeck stone was quarried here and shipped out of the bay for centuries, and the town was built from what stayed behind. That means stone walls, stone slates and lime mortar throughout the older fabric. Repairing it in cement and concrete tile doesn't just look wrong, it traps moisture in walls designed to breathe.
Swanage faces east into the bay with open sea beyond and takes salt-laden air constantly. Pointing erodes, render blows, and iron fixings rust and split the stone around them. Specification matters far more here than it does inland — the right mortar and non-ferrous fixings are the difference between twenty years and five.
Purbeck is riddled with historic stone quarries and underground workings, particularly around Langton Matravers and the ridge, and parts of the bay have a long record of slope movement. It is worth knowing what is under a plot before designing foundations or a retaining wall, not after the first winter.
Rooflight conversion — turning dead roof space into a proper room. See more on our loft conversions page.
Where we work across Swanage, the Isle of Purbeck and BH19.
| Area | Areas & what we see there |
|---|---|
| Swanage old town | High Street, Church Hill, the seafront Stone and soft brick, conservation area, listed property and Victorian resort building. Lime repointing, stone repair, stone slate roofing and careful making good. |
| Herston & Northbrook | Herston, Northbrook, Victoria Avenue Post-war and later housing with room to build. Extensions, garden walls, driveways and loft conversions — the most straightforward work in BH19. |
| Langton Matravers | Langton Matravers, Acton Stone village at the heart of the quarry country. Stone walling and repair, roofs, and ground that deserves checking before anything structural. |
| Worth Matravers & Kingston | Worth Matravers, Kingston, Harman's Cross Small stone villages inside the national landscape. Traditional construction throughout — stone, lime and slate, done the way it was built. |
| Studland & Ulwell | Studland, Ulwell, Whitecliff Coastal and heathland edge, exposed and salt-heavy. Render, roofing and walls, with exposure driving the specification. |
| Durlston & Peveril | Durlston, Peveril Point, Belle Vue Clifftop property taking the full weather. Repointing, render and roof repair — the hardest-worked buildings in the town. |
Purbeck stone is a material with its own rules. We build and repair in it properly rather than reaching for blockwork and a stone-look finish that fools nobody and fails sooner.
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Mike is based in Poole. Swanage is a proper run, so we're honest about it — we take the work when we can do it properly and say so when we can't, rather than quoting for it and letting you down.
No. We come out, look at the job properly and give you a written estimate, with no charge and no obligation.
Yes — boundary and retaining walls, garden walls, steps and terracing, and repair to existing stonework. It's the material the town is built from, it behaves differently to brick, and in a conservation area it's frequently what planning will expect rather than an upgrade you choose.
Yes, and it's a different job to a tiled roof. Purbeck stone slates are heavy, laid in diminishing courses with the largest at the eaves, and the structure below has to carry it. Patching one with concrete tiles causes more problems than it solves.
Salt. Swanage faces the open sea and takes salt-laden air constantly, which eats mortar and rusts iron fixings until they split the stone around them. The answer is a mortar specified for the exposure and non-ferrous fixings — not simply repointing more often.
It can be. Purbeck has extensive historic quarries and underground workings, particularly around Langton Matravers and the ridge, and parts of the bay have a record of slope movement. It's worth establishing what's under a plot before designing foundations or a retaining wall.
We do sympathetic repair — stone and brick matching, lime mortar, rebuilding what's failed the way it was built. Listed building consent is Dorset Council's decision, not ours, and we'll tell you when we think a job needs it before starting.
Swanage, Herston, Northbrook, Durlston, Ulwell, Studland, Langton Matravers, Acton, Worth Matravers, Kingston, Harman's Cross and the Purbeck villages.
Day rates typically run £200–£350 depending on trade and complexity. Stone and heritage work sits at the higher end — it's slower and the material costs more. Project work is priced as a package so you know the figure up front.
Free estimate, no obligation. We'll come out, look at the job, and give you a straight price.