Tags:   Judy Dean 2019 Kelmscott village wall roses pink wild briar

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The home of William Morris

We went to visit yesterday, and found that the place was closed (too stupid to check opening times beforehand!). We had some lunch, and wandered round the village, and managed to take a picture over the top of the shut gate!

Tags:   Judy Dean 2019 Kelmscott William Morris preRaphaelites

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A Cotswold stone roof, this one belonging to an old barn, is usually built with stone slates these days, though many years ago they were all, except the more prestigious buildings, thatched. Before the modern strains of wheat were developed good quality long straw was common, cheap and locally available. Thatched roofs require a steep pitch roof of an angle of at least 45 to 50 degrees to make sure there is adequate rainwater run-off. The large overhang at eaves ensures water is thrown clear of the supporting walls and window and door openings.The Oolitic limestone from which the Cotswold slate is formed is a sedimentary rock. The correct term for the Cotswold slate is ‘tile-stone.’
In some instances suitable limestone for roofing would lie close to or at the surface and would be gathered for use for roof coverings. These were called ‘presents’ because it seems as if they were a gift collected by Cotswold inhabitants. The quarried tile-stone was called ‘pendle’ and had to be split, generally by frost action. The stone would be laid in the open during the winter and the moisture in the saturated stone would freeze, expand and split the stone along the laminations producing stone of suitable thickness for roofs. Alternatively the stone could be split along the laminations or bedding planes with a suitable hammer and chisel. The ‘presents’ tend to to produce thicker tile-stones than the mined ‘pendles’.
The stones were normally cut to size at at the quarry using a ‘slate cutter’ and sorted into groups depending on their size. A wooden ‘slate rule’ about 2ft long with a nail or screw at the head corresponding to the nail hole in the slate would be used for this purpose. The tile-stones were put into groups, named according to their locality, for example: ‘short pricks’ ‘long bachelors’ ‘long fourteens’ etc.
The holes for hanging the tile-stone were made with a pointed hammer called a ‘slating pick’ like a modern ice axe. The micaceous nature of the rock helped with making a neat hole because the tiny layers are split off first before the hole is pierced.
There are those who say the stones diminished or graduated in size towards the top because the roofers did not want to have to carry heavy stones further up the roof slope than they had to. Each tile-stone is heavy, typically up to 46lb (20 kg) each. This is a considerable load for a timber roof to support. If the lighter stones are placed at the ridge this coincides with the centre of the span therefore imposing less load at this critical location. Each size of tile-stone has a particular name, though I can find no reference to these names today...

Tags:   Judy Dean 2019 Kelmscott stone roof Cotswold tile-stone rooks

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