Historic stone wall restored and made into bench in Combe Down

A Bath College Stonemasonry student has been restoring part of a historic wall as part of the Ralph Allen stone mine project by the Museum of Bath Stone, B&NES Council and the UNESCO World Heritage Enhancement Fund.

The shaft wall, where Combe Down freestone used to be hauled out, has been turned into a seat, which has been supported by many locals who have crowdfunded the project and came out to see the finished result.

Callum Cocks, Stonemasonry student at Bath College, said: “I’ve been working on the lettering on the coping stone that sits on top of the remaining wall.

“The things I most enjoyed about this project were working the stone and seeing the remarkable result of how it looked when it was finished.” 

The stone reads: “Rebuilt in 2018 site of access shaft to Ralph Allen stone minesthe stone that built Bath”.

Callum’s tutor, Joe Leber, Stonemasonry lecturer at Bath College said: “Callum came to the college in 2017 age 16, he has been a pleasure to teach, improving his skills year on year.

“Last academic year he achieved his level 2 diploma and his NVQ ahead of time and got involved in designing and building a garden for the special educational needs centre.

“He also set out and produced the lettering for the Ralph Allen stone mine project with some help from Stephen Shute our technician. He is now working towards his level 3 Stonemasonry diploma and his NVQ level 3 here at Bath College. 

"We are all very proud of Calum and are expecting him to achieve more stretch and challenge tasks at the college after completing his diploma with us.”