Indian Sandstone suits Wickham well, given a Georgian and period market town centre; in practice that means natural riven sandstone slabs, each with genuine colour and texture variation, laid and pointed. What that means on the ground in Wickham is heritage frontages around the square limiting material choice in a way a standard estate street doesn’t have to consider, and a conservation area across the historic market square. Where it earns its keep is period and character properties where a manufactured unit would look out of place; the honest caveat is that as a natural stone it benefits from sealing and can need occasional re-pointing over its life.
About Indian Sandstone
Indian sandstone is a natural riven stone, quarried and split rather than moulded, so every slab carries genuine colour banding and surface texture variation that a manufactured product can’t fully replicate. It is laid on a mortar bed over a properly prepared base and pointed between the slabs, and works particularly well on period and character properties where a manufactured concrete or porcelain unit would look out of place next to original brickwork or stonework. Being a natural stone, it benefits from sealing to help resist staining, and like any natural material it can need occasional re-pointing over its life as joints weather — a genuinely different maintenance reality to a manufactured slab.
Best suited to: period and character properties, patios, paths, and driveways where a natural stone look matters
Less suited to: a completely uniform, unvarying colour and texture across every slab
Ground & property in Wickham
Wickham is a genuinely historic market town built around the River Meon and its Georgian and period market square, with a conservation area covering that centre limiting material choice in a way a standard estate street doesn’t have to consider. Frontages around the square need sympathetic treatment; further out, the specification is much more standard.
Planning note: a conservation area across the historic market square