The Project: Reclamation at The Crown Public House, Rhondda Valley
Reclamation procedure: Merthyr Salvage, Reclamation and Demolition’s brief for this particular project was to reclaim Welsh Pennant flagstones from the dilapidated Crown Public House, an original thatched roof establishment dating back to the 1700’s. The salvage materials that were recovered from the historic building were sandstone flagstones mined in the South Wales valleys. In this case, the client that required these particular flagstones were an eminent film company from Shropshire. The company required intact, clean and original flagstones to use on a 16th century film set, to film Thomas Clay’s puritan biopic, “Fanny Lye Deliver’d”. The film, starring Maxine Peake, Charles Dance and Freddie Fox, is set to be released in 2016, and required props which reflected the film’s Colonnial period storyline.
Having surveyed the site to search out the materials that were required, Merthyr Salvage, Reclamation and Demolition were able to come into possession of undamaged flagstones that were free from stains, cracks and chips. Pennant stone is well known for its resilience and long lasting consistency, due to its low water absorption qualities.
This project highlights the versatility of salvaged materials, and the ability for them to be used in many different settings. The film industry is just one of the many businesses nationwide who regularly use reclamation firms such as ours for projects which involve using original, antique and period piece materials.
Reclamation materials: Materials that were reclaimed on site were as follows:
Blue Pennant sandstone flagstone paving slabs
This item has a high potential for re-sale. This is due to the following factors:
The flagstones were not fractured or flaky
The corners were completely intact
No paint, oil or mortar stains were found on the flagstones
No lanolin was present in the composition of the stone