Freshford pizza oven BA2- a simple and elegant solution to a challenging site

I had been aware of the renovations to the house in Freshford as I used to pass it regularly on the way to Bath, so it was reassuring that the owners Jackie and Neil contacted me in November 2021 to come up with a scheme for a difficult ex-quarry site in their garden. Overlooking the beautiful Friary woods valley, the south facing garden was being redesigned and rebuilt so we were brought in to fit the oven and bbq area into an exposed rock face cleared and expertly remodelled by Darren the stonemason.

He had spent the good part of a year hacking away at the rock face in order to get the main semicircular stone wall and seat fitted in so thanks to him our work was a lot easier.

The whole project started while we were still based down the road in Avoncliff but as we moved home in late November 2021 up to Stroud, we ended up travelling quite a distance everyday not made easier by us all getting Covid during the move. Fortunately we were over it in a couple of miserable weeks of coughing and tiredness so we were able to carry on with Darren’s support in getting things ready and accepting deliveries in our absence.

Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
rock face with terrace down

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
rock face before building

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took several months to get things underway as Darren had a lot of building to do as well as lay a stone terrace down so we had something to build from. The rock face undulated in and out so tucking the oven in neatly was always going to be a challenge but after lengthy discussion an area was decided upon even though it meant building the base up to and over protruding rock that hadn’t seen the light of day since the Jurassic period!

Using Hartham Park cropped building stone for the oven base and worktop piers, it blended in well with the existing rock colour and made the whole installation blend seamlessly. The oven we used was our F800 brick oven with a raised dome from our long term supplier Four Grand-Mere . With that side of the project finished, we then concentrated on getting the worktop area fitted into the angled rock face.

This was even more challenging as the 2.4 x 1.2m granite worktop weighed over 250kg and had to be carried down from the drive way at road level around the back of the house, down some narrow stone steps and then 30 m along the level bit of upper lawn.

We managed to borrow some grips and dolly from a local stone supplier P M Bines in Broughton Gifford so it made moving the slab slightly easier with 5 of us lifting, sliding and eventually rolling it down the garden.

Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
cutting the stone slab
Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
Darren cutting the rock face

 

Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
templating

The granite was laid down on the grass and a template cut that followed the line of the rock face so we could tuck the back edge in as tightly as possible. Darren got to work cutting the slab and then we offered up the worktop to its final resting place. With a bit of chiselling and cutting we managed to get it as close as we could and cemented the thing in.

A shelf was fixed in place to support the bbq, a large Big Green Egg, and the egg was lifted into place into its pre-cut hole in the granite. Once cleaned up, the whole Freshford pizza oven project looked fantastic and the clients Jackie and Neil very pleased with the result…… just in time for a family party at the beginning of May 2022.

Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
first firing
Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
the finished project
Freshford, Bath, pizza oven, four grand-mere, F800B-H+, Big Green Egg, bbq,
Big Green Egg in place

Freshford pizza oven BA2- a simple and elegant solution to a challenging site I had been aware of the renovations to the house in Freshford as I used to pass it regularly on the way to Bath, so it was reassuring that the owners Jackie and Neil contacted me in November 2021 to come up […]