Context 152 - November 2017

12 C O N T E X T 1 5 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 materials themselves that enhance the street scene. A ‘grammar’ of use can be detected in different contexts. Villages would rarely be ‘pitched and paved’ throughout, especially in areas where stone was unavailable or unsuit- able. Flagstones might be used in the churchyard and outside some buildings, but cobbles would predominate. Grand streets in towns would have regularly laid flagstones, making elegant corners withwedge-cut stones.Crossovers would be paved in smaller units, less likely to crack under cart wheels. Rectangular setts, laid parallel with the kerbs, would create drainage gullies and laid laterally would provide the carriageway, laid to McAdam’s principles. While carriageway materials would usually be granite from a variety of sources, such as Aberdeen,Mountsorrel or Devon, other stones were also used, such as diorites from the Channel Islands, basalts or the harder sand- stones and limestones. Brick pavers were used in areas such as the midlands, the Weald of Kent and Sussex. Woodblock was used in some cities to help deaden the noise of iron-shod hooves and wheels (see page 27). Lanes would usually have a shared surface, with a central drainage channel.Yards would use a lesser-grade stone, more roughly dressed. In the UK, despite the widespread closure of smaller quarries providing paving stone, high-quality stone can still be sourced. Caithness stone (with its dark hues, slight rippled texture and ability to be precisely cut in relatively large units) is available, as is red granite, also from Scotland. Of course the versatile York stone is widely used, and latterly Pennant has re-emerged, mainly from SouthWales. Some others from the palette are often available in small quantities: creamy Purbeck stone, green/grey Forest of Dean stone and Ashburton ‘Marble’ are examples. Twenty-first-century challenges The skills of the street mason in working with the characteristics of the stone are in very short supply. Specialist stone suppliers can be an invaluable source of information when designing or reinstating paving schemes. Investment in skills is essential if we value our quality streetscapes. Brick paving in TunbridgeWells, Kent Rough-hewn basalt paving in Carlisle