It was built by industrial engineer Alan McEwen and his late wife Christine using reclaimed stone, slate, flagstones and timbers sourced from old cotton, brewery and paper mills from across the north of England.
Sixteen years ago, reflective of his knowledge of the reuse of old building materials, Alan and his wife, who sadly died four years ago, launched their garden antiques business Dandelion Stone Troughs & Architectural Antiques in the courtyard of the house.
The website stock list includes dozens of different sized old York stone troughs and sinks, called slopstones in the Pennines, water features made from millstones plus designs using standing stones and stone monoliths.
McEwen says of his customers: “Old stone troughs and millstone water features are our speciality with most of our British customers being based across southern England, particularly in the south-west who come via the internet.”
The business also has clients in the US, one of whom, said McEwen, bought “a huge, rotund gritstone boulder salvaged from Bowland and weighing over 1000kg. It took from September until Christmas to arrive in California and the owner was truly delighted because 200 years ago his family farmed in Bowland prior to moving to California.”
McEwen has been involved in heritage, industrial museums and reclamation for nearly 50 years and is also an author running a publishing business specialising in industrial history.
In-person visits to Dandelion can be made via the website or by phone to 07971 906105.
