Published in 2003 Stone Roofing reported the work carried out since 1997 into
- the decline of the stone slate industry in the south Pennines and how it might be regenerated so that the region's historic buildings could be conserved;
- the history of use and the sources of stone slates in England and
- an example of how stone slates could be quarried for a single roof for St Michaeland All Saints church Pitchford and how the roof was re-slated.
SAVING ENGLAND'S STONE SLATE ROOFS
Stone slates create a highly regionalized roofing form that is fundamental to the distinctive local character of vernacular buildings in many parts of the country. Declining supplies of new stone slates and the use of imported or artificial substitutes have gradually eroded this vernacular roofing tradition, placing these distinctive landscapes under threat. Meanwhile, the conservation requirement, that repairs to historic stone slate roofs on listed buildings be carried out on a like-for-like basis, has fueled the market for salvaged stone slates and, in some cases, encouraged the unnecessary and unscrupulous stripping of other historic buildings in the locality.
STONE ROOFING IN ENGLAND
This study, originally written as a report for the English Heritage Building Conservation and Research Team, has attempted to do two things. First, to assess the supply and demand for stone roofing in each of the main stone slate regions of England and secondly, to bring together in one document much of the information about the various stone slates and their historical sources which is dispersed in a number of published and unpublished documents and is often difficult to find.
SOURCING NEW STONE SLATES AND RE-ROOFING THE NAVE OF PITCHFORD CHURCH SHROPSHIRE
This paper describes the decisions and actions that were taken to procure a new supply during the re-roofing of the nave of Pitchford Church, where the local Harnage stone had not been produced for over 50 years. The project included: documentary research on the roof and stone, finding a source of new material and estimating the costs of production, obtaining consents, deciding the method of procurement, surveying the failed roof and detailing and completing the new. The Church has been successfully re-roofed and lessons learned that could help others wanting to resuscitate former local industries.
