Olympic Park, Stratford

The River Lee runs from the Thames to Hertford, but unlike the other canals in London it was not constructed in one primary phase of building, and also unlike the other canals it is a canalised river, not an entirely new canal. Navigation took place in the first millennium, with the Vikings taking the opportunity to plunder the unfortunate people of Hertford.

Work on improving the river's navigability is recorded as early as the fourteenth century. In 1766, The River Lee Act authorised much more extensive improvements to the canal system including the construction of locks and new sections along its length.

Today, The River Lee meanders its way through part of the Olympic Park construction site and along its length, there is evidence of these lock locations.

BAM Nuttall, one of the main Olympic Park contractors, were given the task of restoring the river walls and improving the appearance of one of the main lock locations. In-keeping with many of the historic buildings in London built around that time, the river walls were constructed from Kent Ragstone. BAM Nuttall’s contract required them to source suitable materials for restoration.

Gallagher Aggregates Limited, as the sole remaining operator of ragstone quarrying in Kent, were approached to see if they were able to help.

This is a new departure for Gallagher, who from their Hermitage Quarry, near Maidstone, conventionally process up to a million tonnes of ragstone annually into general construction materials.

Gallagher were more than willing to help in any way they could and following a visit to site, established the requirement for cut and dressed blocks and coping stones to match the existing construction.

However, Gallagher had the stone, but not the expertise required for cutting and dressing it. Invicta Stone Limited were found to be an ideal partner with longstanding experience of using ragstone as a building medium.

Suitably sized rocks were selected from the Hermitage Quarry face and checked for integrity. Flaws and faults may not be immediately evident but would inevitably accelerate deterioration and lamination in-situ.

After cutting and dressing at Invicta Stones’ yard in Ashford, Kent the blocks were collected and delivered to the site. Fixing, however, fell foul of the snow and has been delayed. The stone masons will be on site for 4 weeks towards the end of January.