Reclaimed flooring is turning into a bit of a phenomenon. We can’t help but think (and hope being so in love with the stuff) that it is as much about the history of where the woods come from, as it is about the beauty of the wood and the value for money on offer.
Thus, we have decided that, forthwith we will start writing posts on this blog, and our other sites, detailing the history of some of the reclaimed flooring that we receive and subsequently sell.
Many will remember the Oak and Maple parquet blocks we brought in recently. Well, those blocks came from the prestigious Kilmarnock Academy.
Kilmarnock Academy dates back to the 1630s, when it was originally a local Burgh school. It became a school proper in 1807, and moved to its present location in 1898.
The school is recognised internationally, as being one of the few schools in the world to have educated, not one but two people who would go on to win the Nobel Prize (Alexander Fleming and John Boyd Orr). Other famous pupils have included Robert Colquhoun (artist), William McIlvanney (author), Lindsay McKenzie (actress), James Stevenson AKA 1st Baron Stevenson (businessman and politician) and Hugh Watt (1848 - 1921) MP.
The maple and oak blocks were lain in the hall of the Old Academy Hall, which is commonly called the Memorial Hall, because it houses the memorial to the pupils of the academy killed in WWI. The blocks formed a beautiful herringbone pattern (2/3 Oak, 1/3 Maple) with an E-block border. We also lifted some maple blocks from the foyer at the main entrance to the building. Mckay Flooring laid new wooden floors in the Academy.
To view and/or buy some of these antique blocks, which are still in fantastic condition because of lacquering in their past life, click here, (use the links above) or call 0845 602 7694.
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