We stock and source an unparalleled selection of the world’s finest marbles, including some of the oldest and rarest quarried stone available.
Luxury and exclusive
This covers marbles, onyxes and certain other stones that currently command a high price due either to their rarity, market demand or a combination of both. For example, Statuary types have drastically increased in value due to the high demand for their use in hotels and private residences alike. There is no particular shortage of this material apart from when prolonged periods of inclement weather hinders quarrying work.
Paonazzo and Siena Brocatello are only found sporadically as they sit within beds of Statuary and Siena Giallo respectively, and are thus highly sought after.In addition there are commercial marbles that enjoyed great popularity when they were available, such as Cipollino Versillia Classico.
Whatever is still available in block or slab form commands a high price as there are no good alternatives and no short term plans to resume quarrying.
Restoration and conservation
Ian MacDonald is one of the leading European experts on historic marbles and their use in classic buildings. He has amassed a substantial amount and variety of material suitable for use in restoring and conserving old buildings.
Sourcing and preparing suitable replacement material for buildings in need of repair work has become a speciality for McMarmilloyd, who have worked on numerous heritage projects from Windsor Castle to Westminster Palace and St. Pauls Cathedral to name but a few.
Sculpture
Tracey Booth runs the sale of blocks for sculpture, and she is passionate and very knowledgeable about what she sells. Tracey has stocks of many different types of carvable stones to suit beginners onwards, and McMarmilloyd has supplied stone to many famous sculptors over the years.
Alabaster and Soapstone are the easiest to carve through the soft Limestones to Pure Michelangelo Statuary and the harder Marbles and Limestone like Kilkenny Black and Verde Aosta types.
Ancient and rare stone
McMarmilloyd have the best selection of ancient stones in the UK, held in two yards in Wiltshire and two yards in Italy. These are only available for suitable restoration work such as the recent extension of the Cosmatti Floor and Buckfast Abbey. Our oldest blocks were quarried over 1800 years ago, at least!
Owner Ian MacDonald lectures on this subject and has spoken about ancient stones in Italy, France, Ireland and the UK to date.
Commercial slabs
As a policy McMarmilloyd buys on first quality marbles, granites and slates, preferring not to stock at all rather than buy inferior slabs. Our Italian Slate is the finest Cicagna type with no pyrites or patchiness. Our Nero Assoluto Granite is not stained in any way to increase the intensity of the black colour and our Bianco di Carrara is the Superiore type from the Barratini quarry, more akin to Statuary.
We also stock a lot of less common marbles that previously held great popularity, such as Perlato Svevo, Verde Viana, Lioz Montemore, Perlatino and Perlato Royale, Norwegian Breche Rose and many more.
