Driveways built from the formation up. Excavated to depth, a sub-base compacted for the ground and the load, drainage designed in, and levels set to fall the right way.
Driveways are load-bearing structures, not surfaces. A driveway is an excavated formation, a compacted sub-base built to carry a vehicle, restrained edges that hold it together, falls that move water off it, and a wearing course laid over all of that.
Almost everything that goes wrong with a driveway happens below the finish. Ruts, dips, spreading edges and standing water are base and drainage problems working up through a finish laid onto ground that was never made ready for it.
That is groundworks. It is the work this company does for architects and developers, brought to the front of a house.
The old build-up is broken out and carted away, and the dig carries on until it reaches a formation that will carry a vehicle. Soft spots and made ground come out rather than get built over.
A graded granular sub-base goes down in layers, each compacted before the next, with the depth set by the formation and by what will park on it.
Every edge is restrained and haunched in concrete. Edges are where a driveway comes apart, so they are built as structure, not trim.
Levels are set off the threshold, the garage and the boundary, so the driveway meets the doors at the right height and water runs deliberately to somewhere that can take it.
Channel drainage at the threshold, land drains, a soakaway sized for the area, or a connection into the existing system, chosen from what the ground will take. Designed with the drainage solutions side of the business.
Spoil away, borders made good, buried services recorded and protected, the frontage left as a finished job.
It stays flatA sub-base compacted in layers over a sound formation prevents the ruts, dips and sinking that show up a couple of winters after the finish went down.
The water goes where you send itFalls set off the threshold, and drainage sized for the area, keep run-off out of the garage and inside your own boundary.
The edges holdRestrained, haunched edges stop the spreading and drop-off that pull a driveway apart from the outside in.
One contractor from the dig to the finishThe same company excavates it, drains it, builds the base and finishes it, so nothing waits on a handover.
Parking the house did not have beforeTurning a frontage into one or two proper parking spaces is one of the few changes a buyer sees from the road, and on a street where parking is tight it is the thing they remember about the house.
A driveway at the front of a house is a drainage decision before it is a design one. According to the Government's guidance on the permeable surfacing of front gardens, issued when permitted development rights changed in England in October 2008, planning permission is required for a new or replacement front driveway over five square metres where the surfacing is impermeable and the water is not taken to a permeable area within the property. That is why run-off is designed at the survey rather than solved after the first storm.
Excavation, formation, sub-base and drainage are this company's daily work on commercial sites. A driveway is that work at domestic scale.
The person who prices your driveway runs the dig.
Matt Richards owns and runs Cornwall Civils & Construction from Newlyn, with 23 years in construction behind him since he started at 17. Mason by trade, then working foreman, then site manager across groundworks and demolition, and now owner and sole director. He led the 45 metre reinforced concrete retaining wall at St Ives as director and machine operator.
It is why the survey spends longer on levels and drainage than on the finish.
A driveway does not fail at the surface. It fails underneath it, in the depth of the dig, the sub-base and the water. Get those three right and there is very little left to go wrong.Matt Richards, director
23 years in construction, mason by trade
Working to architects' and engineers' drawings
£5m public liability, including groundworks and demolition up to 15 metres
We work from Newlyn and build driveways across the Penwith peninsula and out towards Falmouth. Newlyn, Penzance and Marazion are on the doorstep, and Hayle, St Ives, St Just, Camborne, Redruth and Helston are all inside the area we cover.
Sites further east are taken on their merits, so if your postcode is not on that list, call and ask.
Most of what comes out of the ground here is foundations, drainage and structural concrete for architects and developers across west Cornwall. The St Ives retaining wall carried land drains behind it and three attenuation tanks taking water off a roof and a car park. The same discipline goes into a frontage.
We do not publish rates, because a driveway is priced on the ground it sits on. What you get is a site visit at no charge and a written quote setting out:
If something in the ground changes what is needed, you get the price in writing before it happens. Our driveways guide sets out what drives the cost.
Our Google reviews are public, and we would rather you read them than take our word for anything.
Based on 5 Google reviews
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.
Read more on GoogleOne further five-star rating was left on Google without a written review.
Send the postcode, the rough size of the area and a photo of the frontage, and Matt will come and look at what is under it before anyone prices what goes over it.
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
