Uppingham Stone

General information

Uppingham Stone is a family business based in Rutland.

The company specialises in making bespoke, unique, limestone fireplaces by hand.

It was set up by Sherman Finnemore and his wife Kate. Sherman grew up around stone and joined the family business aged 18. After 16 years, in 2013, he decided to branch out to form his own specialist company, Uppingham Stone.

The firm uses local stone quarried at Ancaster and Clipsham, both under 30 miles away.

It is roughly cut and taken to the workshop in Manton.

Customers can then talk to the firm's masons about the fireplace that they would like. They can choose a design from the website or Sherman can design one especially for them. If your budget is tight, the design can be altered to suit you.

He produces a scale drawing, and discusses with the customer any changes they may like to make.

Fireplaces are then handcrafted using techniques perfected over thousands of years. Indeed, the Egyptians used only slightly different techniques to build the pyramids. Their chisels were copper - ours are tungsten.

National award-winning mason Sherman then carves the stone using a mallet and chisel.

Customers are encouraged to take part in the process by viewing its progress on the Uppingham Stone Facebook page, Twitter feed, or even visiting the workshop to see their fireplace being made.

When the fireplace is complete, it is allowed it to dry for a week before it is fitted by your builder, or by Uppingham Stone's skilled fitting teams.

Uppingham Stone places emphasis on transparent pricing, and is always keen to ensure that customers are happy with their end product.

Fitting teams will be happy to discuss how to care for fireplaces at the time of fitting.

Uppingham Stone also takes on other commissions in stone and is happy to quote for all stonework.