Cambridge & South Cambridgeshire
Nothing in Swavesey Is Square. Imprinted Concrete Is Set Out on Site to Match.
A medieval market village on the fen edge, with moats, a wide old market area and plots that are almost never a neat rectangle.
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 Swavesey
Setting out where there is no straight line
Swavesey is older and stranger than it first looks. It was a market village with a priory and it still carries the earthworks and moated sites to prove it, which is part of why the plots around Market Street, Middlewatch and the older lanes are so irregular. Frontages there are rarely square to the road, entrances are often narrow, and the useful parking area is whatever shape is left once the buildings and boundaries have had their say.
Ringing that older core is the twentieth century and later housing, where the plots are conventional and the work is much more predictable: a drive, a garage, a lawn and enough width to make a two car frontage once the grass strip is included. Between the two, Swavesey gives us more genuinely shaped, non rectangular layouts than most villages, which happens to be where a poured surface has a real advantage over unit paving that has to be cut to fit.
The village sits on the fen edge, with the ground falling away north towards Swavesey Fen and the drains. That gives the familiar pattern: firmer ground on the village high point, softer and lower to the north, and a considerable difference between the two in what the excavation and drainage need to be. Because imprinted concrete is a sealed surface, we decide where the water goes before we decide what it looks like.
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 Swavesey properties
Older Swavesey buildings are warm brick, render and pantile, and they sit best with sandstone, autumn brown and softer greys. Newer housing takes the full range, including charcoal with a lighter or contrasting border. On an irregular plot the border does extra work, because it is what makes an odd shape read as a designed edge rather than as leftover space.
- 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 Swavesey
Setting out matters more here than in most villages, because there is often no straight line to work from. We set out on site against the building and the boundaries rather than assuming a rectangle. On the lower ground the priority shifts to levels and drainage, with a channel drain designed in where there is no natural fall.
Recent Projects
Finished work worth comparing against your Swavesey property
The charcoal random stone finish laid around a shaped panel, in our patterns, is the most useful reference for an irregular Swavesey plot, because it shows the pattern meeting a non rectangular edge. For a conventional newer frontage, the grey ashlar driveway with a cobble border is the closer match.
A narrow side access path in charcoal riven stone imprinted concrete, with galvanised channel drains along the run. 
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.
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.
Had these guys do my garden from a recommendation. They have done a fantastic job . My garden now looks amazing. Anyone who's thinking of having a garden makeover or a new drive I highly recommend this company. 10/10
Questions
Swavesey imprinted concrete questions
- Do you cover Swavesey?
- Yes, Swavesey is in the service area Driveway & Decking Co. publish. Send the postcode through the quote form on this page or call 07949 078999.
- My plot is an awkward shape. Does that cost more?
- It affects the setting out and the amount of edge work rather than automatically making a job expensive. What we can say is that a poured surface handles an irregular shape better than unit paving, because there is no cutting of blocks to fit a curve and no thin slivers left at the edges.
- There is a moat or earthwork near my property. Does that matter?
- It can. Some of the historic earthworks around Swavesey are protected, and ground disturbance near a designated feature is not something to assume is permitted. If anything like that is on or adjoining your plot, check with South Cambridgeshire District Council before work is planned.
- How do you set out on a frontage that is not square to the road?
- On site, against the house and the boundaries, rather than from a drawing. Which line the pattern is squared to is a decision worth making deliberately, because it is what the eye reads when it looks at the finished surface. We will walk that through with you before the pour.
- Is the ground towards the fen suitable?
- It depends on the plot. The lower ground north of the village is softer fen edge material with a higher water table, so the excavation, the sub base and the drainage have to be designed for it. We would rather look and tell you plainly than give a general answer that might not apply to your garden.
- Can you match a new patio to an existing driveway?
- We can work towards something complementary, and we will be honest about how close a match to a weathered surface is realistic. Where an exact match matters, doing both areas at the same time is the only way to get it.
- Do you install for barn conversions and older buildings?
- Yes, and they are usually the more interesting jobs. The design questions are about scale and colour against old materials, and about levels, since older buildings often sit lower than the ground around them. Any listing or designation should be checked before a finish is chosen.
- What happens if the weather turns during the work?
- Concrete work is weather dependent and we plan around that rather than pretending it is not. If conditions are wrong for pouring we will say so and reschedule, because laying in the wrong conditions is not worth the time saved.
- Can a drive be laid to take a horsebox or a trailer?
- That depends on the loads, and it changes the build up, so it needs saying at the quoting stage. A surface designed for cars is not the same specification as one that will regularly carry something much heavier.
- Do you offer wood effect finishes for a garden?
- Yes, there is a wood plank pattern that stamps the look of wide timber boards, grain and all, into a continuous concrete surface. It is a genuinely different look from the stone and cobble patterns and is worth seeing as a sample before deciding.
- How long have Driveway & Decking Co. been trading?
- The business is family run and has been going since 1990, with over thirty years installing decorative surfacing. That is the extent of what we claim, because it is what we can stand behind.
- How do I get a quote for Swavesey?
- Use the quote form on this page with your postcode and a short description, call or WhatsApp 07949 078999. If your plot is irregular or low lying, mention it, because both change what we look at first.
Areas We Cover
Near Swavesey
Each of these has its own page, written for that place rather than this one.
Get a Free Quote
Request a quote for your Swavesey 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