Gardening / Cuttings: Gruesome goods

THERE are more gargoyle makers in Britain than one dared hope. Mr Wareing's query (Weekend 2 October) brought a rich response.

Celia Darby of Methwold and others pointed out that the mail order firm Past Times was offering them in its autumn catalogue at pounds 9.95. The address is Witney, Oxfordshire OX8 6PH. Rosemary Davidson writes to say that she sells two different gargoyles (pounds 50), two green men (pounds 35-pounds 40) and a three-man planter (pounds 55) at the Broughton House Gallery, 98 King Street, Cambridge CB1 1LN (0223 314960). They are made by Oliver Creed from reconstituted stone and are based on heads in Norwich Cathedral and other East Anglian churches.

Several potters are also eager to supply the goods. J S Stuart, of 47 Regent Street, Exeter EX2 9EH, says he is getting bored with mugs and jugs and would welcome some different kind of work. Amy Shelton describes herself as a 'gargoyle fanatic'. She has already made some in stoneware and terracotta and can make replicas of specific gargoyles or create something from scratch. Her address is 2 Cypress Avenue, Crews Hill, Enfield EN2 9BZ (081-367 2773).

Juliet Dyer, of Reynolds House, 45 Bromsgrove, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 7JG, sent photographs of some of the flat-backed gargoyle faces she has already made. 'If you actually want them to conduct water off a building,' she points out, 'that is a more difficult thing to fit from afar.' Rachel Bebb, garden designer, of King Cottage, Broughton, Stockbridge, Hampshire SO20 8AD (0794 301581), sent photographs of gargoyles made from Portland stone which she had commissioned from the sculptor James Kidd Brown. They cost pounds 120.