Background Information: Collyweston Slating

The Roofs Of England: Stone Slates

The extraordinary richness of England's built heritage is a reminder of our ingenuity in response to our surroundings and their particular environmental and geographical characteristics. The roofs and walls of historic buildings are clues to the geology of the surrounding landscape, and demonstrate the skill by which the local population used available resources to provide shelter thereby developing the vernacular or traditional local buildings we now cherish. Local character and distinctiveness is under threat and limestone and sandstone roofing is becoming increasingly rare. If the erosion of regional identity is to be arrested, measures need to be taken to ensure local materials are made available. Stone slate roofs are a findamental part of the distinctive local character of vernacular buildings in many parts of the country.

(English Heritage)

Any stone which could be quarried and split into thin peices has been used for roofing over the centuries. Indigenous slates have been used since Saxon times but they were only affordable to the wealthiest individuals and the church through medieval times. The use of slate increased as it became affordable to a greater section of the population and the use of fire retardant materials was required in cities.

(Slate Roofing: A Quick History)

A slater "cliving" a piece of slate:

Image courtesy of The Collyweston Slaters Trust

Stone Slating: Geology