Serving Lechlade & the Upper Thames
Cotswold stone laying,
bricklaying and extensions
in Lechlade-on-Thames.
Lechlade sits inside the Cotswolds AONB and the properties look it: natural stone, lime mortar, stone tile and Cotswold slate. That's not the same trade as throwing up a modern facing brick on an estate. We do both, and we know the difference.
Free site visit. Written estimate in 3–5 working days. £5m public liability. Sympathetic to conservation-area and listed-property requirements.
We serve Lechlade
We're in Lechlade most weeks.
Highworth to Lechlade is a straight run up the A361, 12 to 18 minutes on a normal weekday. We're on jobs somewhere in Lechlade, Kempsford, Inglesham or Southrop most weeks of the year.
Response times to Lechlade
Lechlade enquiries answered the same working day. Site visits usually booked within the week.
Property types in Lechlade
Lechlade's fabric is mainly Cotswold rubble and dressed stone with lime mortar, Cotswold stone tile or Welsh slate roofs, and later additions in soft red brick. There are listed properties around the Market Place and the High Street, riverside cottages by the Thames, and a small amount of later 20th-century housing on the outskirts.
Common Lechlade jobs
Regular Lechlade work: stone walling, garden and boundary walls in matching Cotswold stone, lime repointing on cottage frontages, pitched Cotswold-tile re-roofs, and single-storey extensions in matched stone or in brick where it makes sense.
Services available in Lechlade
The full family-run trade list, in Lechlade.
Every service below is handled by the same three-person family team.
Stone Laying in Lechlade
Natural Cotswold stone walling and cladding, laid with the eye and hand of a specialist.
Read more
Bricklaying in Lechlade
Fair-faced brickwork, garden walls, arches and repairs: built by the family that's been doing it since 1988.
Read more
Pitched Roofing in Lechlade
Tiled and slated pitched roofs: repairs and full re-roofs. (We don't take on flat roofing.)
Read more
Plastering & Render in Lechlade
Smooth internal plastering and clean external render by the same three-person family team.
Read more
Extensions in Lechlade
Full home extensions handled start to finish: groundworks, brickwork, roofing, plastering.
Read more
Patios & Hard Landscaping in Lechlade
Patios, garden walls, turfing, decking and fencing: the outdoor build, handled in-house.
Read moreWhy choose us in Lechlade
Why Lechlade property owners trust us.
Working on a Cotswold stone cottage is not the same trade as working on a 90s brick estate. The wrong mortar mix or the wrong pointing style will damage the property and offend the conservation officer at the same time.
We understand lime, not just cement.
Natural Cotswold stone is soft and porous: it hates cement-heavy pointing, and it needs a lime-based mortar to breathe. We work stone the way it wants to be worked, not the way a mixer full of OPC would prefer.
Stone is Dale's specialism.
Stone laying is listed as a distinct trade on our service list for a reason, it's a different craft from bricklaying and takes decades to do properly. Dale has been on stone since the 1980s.
We coordinate with the Cotswold conservation regime.
Lechlade sits in the Cotswolds AONB, and much of the older centre is inside a conservation area or listed. We know what triggers listed-building consent and what doesn't, and we won't quietly do something that gets you in trouble later.
Local building issues
Common Cotswold-property problems in Lechlade.
Stone-built and part-stone properties in Lechlade have a specific pattern of failure modes.
Cement re-pointing damaging soft stone.
The single most common issue on Lechlade cottages: a previous re-point in modern cement mortar has trapped moisture, and the stone face is now blowing off. Only real fix is careful rake-out and lime re-point.
Failed stone tile roofs.
Cotswold stone tile roofs shed tiles as pegs and battens rot. We do full pitched stone-tile relays, sorting battens, felt and lead flashings at the same time.
Damp on the Thames-side properties.
Properties close to the river have a persistent moisture load. Cementitious render and gypsum plaster inside make it worse, lime render and lime plaster let the walls breathe. That's the direction we push clients toward on riverside jobs.
Boundary and garden walls in poor pointing.
Dry-stone and mortared stone boundary walls across Lechlade are often overdue a proper repoint and cap. Done right they last another century.
In depth
Building sympathetically in Lechlade.
Lechlade-on-Thames: where the Thames officially becomes navigable: is a small Cotswold market town at the meeting of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. The historic core around the Market Place and St Lawrence Church is largely 17th, 18th and 19th-century stone, with a handful of medieval survivals. The building fabric is Cotswold oolitic limestone with lime mortar, stone-tile or slate roofs, and timber joinery: a completely different animal from a modern brick-and-block cavity wall.
Working on this kind of property properly means committing to breathable materials. Lime mortar for pointing, lime render externally, lime plaster inside on original walls. Modern cement and gypsum will trap moisture inside solid stone construction, and the resulting damp and stone decay is expensive to reverse. We push clients toward the right specification even when it takes longer to lay and costs a bit more to source: because a stone wall done wrong today is a much bigger job in ten years.
For newer additions: a rear extension on a Lechlade property, an outbuilding conversion, a new garden wall: the choice between matching stone and honest modern brick is a real one, and depends on the property, the planning position and the budget. We'll talk through both at the site visit and put an itemised estimate in front of you inside 3–5 working days. Whatever we quote, we do: the same three faces on the tools day one to hand-over, no substitutions later.
Our process
The same four-step process, whether you're in Lechlade or up the road.
Repeatable, honest, and identical for every job: a garden wall or a full extension.
- 01
Free site visit
We come out to your Lechlade property, walk the job with you and answer questions in person.
- 02
Written estimate in 3–5 days
Itemised, in writing, with staged payments set out. No verbal quotes.
- 03
Booked in and started
Materials sourced, timing agreed. The same three-person team on site from day one.
- 04
Snagged and handed over
Site cleared, snag-list walked with you, aftercare explained. We stay reachable after the job.
Recent works
Recent projects in and around Lechlade.
Nearby areas
Also serving these Gloucestershire towns and villages.
Do you work on listed properties in Lechlade?
Yes, subject to the appropriate listed-building consent. We work sympathetically in lime, use matched stone, and coordinate with the conservation officer where required. We don't do consent-avoiding shortcuts.
Do you use lime mortar on Cotswold stone?
Yes, and we insist on it for older stonework. Modern cement mortar physically damages soft limestone: we won't repoint a Cotswold property in cement no matter how much cheaper it is.
Can you match existing Cotswold stone on an extension?
Yes. We source reclaimed and matched new Cotswold stone through established regional yards and blend courses so the extension reads as part of the original property, not stuck on.
How fast can you get to Lechlade?
It's a 12–18 minute drive from Highworth. Enquiries are answered the same working day; site visits usually booked inside the week.
Do you do Cotswold stone tile roofs?
Yes, pitched stone-tile re-roofs and repairs. We do not do flat roofing of any kind.
Cost of a stone extension in Lechlade?
Priced only after a site visit: natural stone jobs vary widely depending on match, source and quantity. Written, itemised estimate in 3–5 working days. Staged payments.
Are you insured for work on high-value Cotswold property?
£5,000,000 public liability and £10,000,000 employers' liability. Certificates on request.
Do you cover villages around Lechlade like Kempsford, Southrop and Inglesham?
Yes: anything within reasonable reach of Highworth is on the patch.
Ready when you are
Get a free estimate for your Lechlade job.
Free site visit at a time that suits. Written, itemised estimate in 3–5 working days. Staged payments, nothing due before we start.