The Building Stones of Suffolk and the people who worked them by Tony Redman - book launch
The formal launch of the latest SIAH monograph, The Building Stones of Suffolk, will take place on 6th September from 2pm until 4pm in the St Edmund room at St Edmundsbury Cathedral centre. There will be an introduction by Rt Rev Martin Seeley, the former Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, who wrote the foreword and remains passionate about what makes Suffolk special, an introduction to the researching for the book by the author Tony Redman, and an exhibition of many of the stones found in the county, for people to handle.
Light refreshments will be available thanks to generous sponsorship by Lignacite Ltd, the last maker of artificial stone still working in Suffolk.
Tony Redman FRICS is a chartered building surveyor and historic buildings consultant based in Bury St Edmunds, a consultant with Whitworth Co–Partnership. He spent five years researching every stone-built building in Suffolk before writing this account of all the stones used in buildings. Of the 700 or so, just over 500 are church buildings.
Griff Rees Jones, broadcaster, Suffolk resident and president of the Victorian Society has said:
“I have greatly admired this book. Never mind The Stones of Venice, this is the true story of the Stones of Suffolk. Equip yourself with the ability to read walls and assess towers with this endlessly fascinating book written by a real expert. An essential and revelatory guide for anyone who especially treasures the beauty and majesty of Suffolk’s great church buildings.”
Copies will be on sale at the event: £20 for members of the SIAH, £25 for non-members
The book and how to order a copy
A definitive guide to the stones of which our county’s buildings are made. The book is part history, part field guide, and seeks to tell the stories of how the stones found in our buildings might have come to be here. Over fifty stones have been identified, following the surveying of all the stone-built buildings in the county. It also covers the artificial stones developed in Suffolk, including the earliest identified use of pre-cast concrete. The second part is an alphabetical list of the stonemasons identified as living and working within the county down to 1999. Research included the analysis of the three known masons’ archives in Suffolk, two of them for the first time.
The author, Tony Redman MA FRICS IHBC, is a conservation accredited chartered building surveyor who spent most of his working life repairing Suffolk buildings. He has been a member of the council of SIAH, is a trustee of the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Stonemasons.
219 pages including 247 coloured plates, 21 maps, and indexed by name and place.
£25 plus £5 p&p, (SIAH members £20 plus p&p) - use the donate button under the "Publications" menu above.
