Marazion builds on low ground behind a beach, in front of open water. Where the surface water goes, and how the concrete is specified, are decided by the site and the sea rather than by preference. One contractor from the first dig through to the finished build.
Marazion sits on the eastern shoulder of Mount's Bay, looking straight across open water at St Michael's Mount and the causeway that runs out to it. That view is also the town's engineering problem. The seafront takes the full weight of a south easterly with nothing to slow it down, and the salt that arrives with it does not stop at the render.
Salt-laden air drives chloride attack into reinforced concrete. That is why coastal exposure classes exist in BS 8500, and why cover to the reinforcement, mix design and curing matter more on this front than they do two miles inland. A wall poured to an inland spec on a Marazion plot ages on a different timetable.
The ground behind the beach is the other half of it. Much of the low land between the town and Marazion Marsh sits close to the water table, so a soakaway that works on the rising ground towards Goldsithney can fail a percolation test outright. Building Regulations Part H sets the order of preference for surface water, and on this stretch the honest answer is often attenuation and a designed outfall rather than a hole full of stone.
Add the conservation constraints on the older streets, and the drainage strategy is settled before anyone talks about finishes.
Site clearance, muck away, excavation, setting out and foundations, dug to the bearing strata rather than to a depth guessed at tender stage.
Extensions, renovations and structural work on the older stock behind the seafront, including propping and steels where openings are being formed.
Foul and surface water drainage, land drainage and attenuation on low-lying plots where a soakaway on its own will not carry the discharge.
Garden walls, steps, terracing and retaining walls on exposed coastal plots, built to hold ground and to stand up to salt.
Excavated to depth with a sub-base built to carry the load and the drainage designed in, by a groundworker rather than a paving gang.
Sized and sited against a percolation test rather than assumed, and built where the ground will genuinely take the water.
One contractor, from strip out to finished buildDemolition, groundworks, drainage, concrete and the build itself sit under one contract, so there is no handover gap for the programme to fall into.
A director on siteMatt Richards prices the job, carries out the site visit himself and operates the machine on it.
Built to the engineer's drawingFoundations, reinforced concrete and attenuation delivered to architects' detail and under external structural engineers' direction.
£5m public liability, including groundworks and demolition up to 15 metresDemolition is excluded outright by a large share of policies in this trade. This one carries it.
A written quote before anything startsScope, sequence and the conditions that would move the figure, set out on paper and booked into the programme around the season Marazion trades on.
Work in the town falls into three shapes: surface water and foul drainage on low ground, foundations and retaining structures on plots that rise away from the bay, and structural work behind the seafront on older property. The nearest published jobs are the St Ives retaining wall and Jubilee Pool in Penzance.
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Great company to work with. Professional, reliable and well organised from start to finish. Communication is always clear, sites are well run & the team are a pleasure to deal with. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them and look forward to working together again!
Read more on GoogleCornwall Civils have been working on a complex external works package for our project in St Ives. Their works have included an extensive concrete retaining wall, in-situ concrete stairs and an in-ground modular drainage system.
Read more on GoogleCornwall Civils handled a tricky concrete shuttering, steel work, and pour for us on an emergency job. They stepped in at very short notice and worked through nights and weekends to get it done. The quality of their work was excellent, and their commitment was outstanding.
Read more on GoogleI recently had the pleasure of working with Matry at Cornwall Civils and Construction, and I couldn’t be more impressed with the service provided.
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Marazion sits east round Mount's Bay from our base, in the middle of the area we work in week to week.
The full map sits on our areas we cover across west Cornwall page.
Send the postcode, the drawings and the stage the site is at, and Matt will come and look at the ground, the levels, the access and where the water has to go.
Call Matt Richards on 07958 102538 · Get a free quote online
14 The Strand, Newlyn, Penzance, TR18 5HN
Phone: 07958 102538
Email: info@cornwallcivilsandconstruction.co.uk
Hours: Mon to Fri 07:00 to 17:00 · Sat 08:00 to 12:00
Sunday: emergency call out only
Last updated: 22 September 2026
