Cambridge & South Cambridgeshire
From Chivers Cottages to Later Estates, Imprinted Concrete for Histon Front and Back
A village on the edge of Cambridge with a jam factory in its history and a busway on its doorstep. Frontages here run from Victorian cottage to modern estate.
Family run since 1990
Over 30 years installing decorative surfacing
Based in Sawtry
Local team, Cambridgeshire properties
Five star rated
Verified Google reviews
Imprinted Concrete in Histon
Two villages worth of housing in one place
Histon sits immediately north of Cambridge, close enough that the city's housing pressure is felt in every street and far enough that it still reads as a village around the Green and the church. Its twentieth century character was shaped by the Chivers works, which brought terraced and semi detached workers' housing to the village, and those streets still have the small frontages and modest plots that came with them. Later development, and the steady infill and extension that comes with being this close to Cambridge, has added everything from 1960s estates to recent builds.
The practical result is a village where two houses on adjoining roads can need completely different answers. On a Victorian or early twentieth century cottage frontage, the area is small, the brick is soft and warm, and the pattern needs to be fine enough to sit with it. On a later estate frontage there is width to work with, the brick is plainer, and a bolder colour with a border does the job. Rear gardens across the village tend to be long and narrow, which suits a patio with a defined shape rather than a full width rectangle.
Ground conditions reflect the position between the Cambridge clay and the fen edge to the north, and there is a good deal of variation across the village. What is under an individual frontage, and how deep any made ground goes, is decided by looking. Imprinted concrete is a sealed surface, so where the run off goes is settled before the layout is fixed, and on small frontages that interacts directly with the planning rules on front gardens.
Driveways, patios and paths are the three things we install. Read what each one involves or why people choose imprinted concrete.
Make It Your Own
Colours and patterns for Histon properties
The older Histon housing is warm brick, often with slate or tile, and it takes sandstone, brick red and autumn brown comfortably. On the later estates the palette is plainer and grey works well, particularly with a contrasting border on a wider drive. Samples come to the visit, which matters here because the two ends of the village want different answers.
- SandstoneNatural stone tone
- Brick RedClassic heritage
- Slate GreyModern charcoal
- Autumn BrownRich amber
See the full colour and pattern section for photographs of the finishes, or ask us to bring samples when we visit.
Before Anything Is Poured
Ground, access and drainage in Histon
The main constraints are access on the older streets and levels on the small frontages. Where a frontage is short, the finished level relative to the threshold and the pavement is the thing that has to be right, because there is no room to lose a level over a distance. Falls and any channel drain are designed rather than improvised.
Recent Projects
Finished work worth comparing against your Histon property
For an older cottage frontage, the terracotta herringbone brick driveway in the patterns on our main page shows the finer scale that suits warm brickwork. For a long narrow rear garden, the grey wood plank patio gives a good idea of how a linear pattern reads down a narrow space.
Close detail of a cobble setts finish, showing the riven texture and the pale antiquing highlight that gives the surface its depth. 
A full width front driveway in grey ashlar imprinted concrete, with a stamped cobble border and a linear channel drain at the pavement line. 
A charcoal ashlar driveway with a contrasting red stamped border, sweeping to a double garage.
Five-Star Rated
What customers say
EXCELLENT Based on 12 reviews on Google. These are the company's own Google reviews and are not attributed to any particular town.
Rated 5 out of 5.
Cannot recommend these guys enough. James, Ross, George and John all done an amazing job transforming my driveway and patio. Professional from the outset with a final finish that impresses everyone that sees it, that will last years to come!
Questions
Histon imprinted concrete questions
- Do you cover Histon?
- Yes. Histon is named in the service area Driveway & Decking Co. publish. Send the postcode through the quote form on this page or call 07949 078999 to arrange a visit.
- My front garden is tiny. Is it worth converting for parking?
- It depends on the frontage and on what the planning position is. A very small area does not let a pattern repeat properly, and paving more than five square metres of a front garden with a surface that does not let water through needs planning permission unless the run off is directed to a permeable area within your boundary. Worth a conversation before you commit either way.
- Which finish suits a Victorian cottage frontage?
- A fine scale pattern in a warm colour. Herringbone brick and London cobble both keep the rhythm of the surrounding brickwork, whereas a large slab pattern reads as too big for a short frontage. The colour is best judged against the actual wall with a sample in hand.
- Can you lay a patio in a long narrow garden?
- Yes, and the shape is the interesting part. A full width rectangle at the back of the house rarely uses a long garden well; a shaped area with a defined border, or a patio set part way down with a path leading to it, usually works better. That is a design conversation to have on site.
- Is the guided busway or the Histon Road corridor relevant to the work?
- Only in terms of getting to you. What affects your job is the ground, the levels and the access at the property itself.
- Can you work on a property that has been extended?
- Yes, and extensions are worth mentioning, because a newer wing often sits on different foundations and the ground around it may have been disturbed. It affects the levels and sometimes what we find when we dig.
- How do you handle the join where the drive meets the pavement?
- That edge is designed rather than left to chance, usually with a border and, where needed, a channel drain to stop water running off your property on to the highway. The dropped kerb itself is the highway authority's responsibility, and we will tell you if it looks like it needs attention.
- Will the surface stain from a leaking car?
- Any surface can be marked by oil and fuel, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Dealing with spills quickly and keeping up routine cleaning is the practical answer. We will explain what the finish you choose needs.
- Can you install in a garden with no side access?
- It changes what is realistic, because material and plant have to reach the work somehow. Sometimes there is a route through, sometimes there is not. Tell us at the enquiry stage and we will be straight with you.
- Do you do both the front and the back on the same visit?
- We will look at both on the same visit, yes, and quoting them together often makes sense. Whether they are installed at the same time depends on the job and on access.
- Do you use your own team?
- Driveway & Decking Co. is a family run business that has been installing decorative surfacing since 1990. The work is done by that team rather than sold on, and we will tell you who is coming.
- How do I arrange a quote in Histon?
- Use the quote form on this page with your postcode and a rough size, call or WhatsApp 07949 078999. Say whether the property is an older cottage or a later build, and whether there is side access.
Areas We Cover
Near Histon
Each of these has its own page, written for that place rather than this one.
Get a Free Quote
Request a quote for your Histon project
Tell the team whether you are planning a driveway, patio, path or another suitable imprinted concrete project. Include the postcode and an approximate size or a short description, and Driveway & Decking Co. can talk through the next step and arrange a quote or a site visit where that makes sense.
Prefer to talk it through?
- Telephone
- 07949 078999
- Message us on WhatsApp
- Address
- 23 Glatton Road, Sawtry, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5SY