THE HISTORIC USE OF BUILDING STONES IN DEANE

G. J. DAWSON AND P. WRIGHT

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND

This paper describes a survey of building stones In 2015 the Historic Environment Service carried out in to support the of the South West Heritage Trust, formerly the buildings conservation work of the South West Heritage Service of , Heritage Trust. Building stones are identified and identified the need for a survey of the use of the factors that have influenced the selection of traditional building stones in Somerset (Somerset these stones for building are discussed. A very close Historic Environment Service, 2015). The primary correlation between the building stones used and purpose of the survey was to assist the Historic the local geology is demonstrated. Environment Service with preserving the character, appearance and local distinctiveness of towns and villages in the county. This paper describes an initial survey of Taunton Deane. It describes the

Fig. 1 Data collection sheet

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methodology and results of the survey and how the War that could be seen from a public road or data may be used by the Trust and others. footpath were included in the survey. Data were collected in the field using the form shown in Figure 1. Except for all churches and significant SURVEY METHOD civic, administrative, educational and historic buildings in Taunton, records were not kept of the The principal data collected during the survey were building stones used in individual buildings. To of the different types of stone used in the external reduce the time required for the survey, only stone walls and dressings of buildings and in boundary buildings were recorded in Taunton, Wellington walls. For the purposes of this survey, dressings and . Building stones were identified were taken to be any stonework not forming part of based on their colour, composition, grain size and the main walls of buildings. Stonework surrounding sedimentary features. Photographs were taken openings for windows and doors was recorded as of good examples of building stones and stone dressings. Cut stone used at the corners of buildings buildings. Samples of building stones were also (quoins) was recorded as part of the walls. At the collected. A total of 63 towns and villages and request of Somerset Historic Environment Service, 2,050 stone buildings and boundary walls were data were also collected on the use of other materials surveyed. for the walls of buildings and roof coverings, such The method of surveying described in the as brick, render and cob, and slates, stone and clay paragraph above was used for two main reasons. tiles and thatch. The Somerset Historic Environment Service Surveys were carried out on a parish by parish requirement to identify character, appearance and basis within the limits of each town, village and local distinctiveness was best met by data collected hamlet. All buildings built before the First World on a settlement by settlement basis, rather than

Fig. 2. Data supplied to South West Heritage Trust

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Fig. 3 Use of building stones for buildings, boundary walls and dressings in and

Fig. 4 Use of building stones for buildings, boundary walls and dressings in all the settlements surveyed in Taunton Deane

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building by building. Recording stone types used These data were stored in a Microsoft Access building by building would have been much more database and exported as Excel spreadsheets for time consuming and would have greatly increased the South West Heritage Trust (Figure 2). The data the time required to complete the survey. were plotted as a series of large and small scale pie In the small number of cases where it was not charts, as shown in the examples in Figures 3 and possible to positively identify building stones 4.1 The data were also displayed in a Geographical in the field, their characteristics were noted and Information System (Quantum GIS) overlaid the observations cross-checked with data on on a background of Ordnance Survey or British building stones collected by previous workers: Geological Survey mapping. By doing this it was (Prudden, 2001, 2003, 2004 and Unpublished, Barr, possible to monitor the distribution of the data and Unpublished, and , 2011), British to draw conclusions about the relationship between Geological Survey, the Taunton Deane Borough the use of building stones and the underlying Council and Historic online databases of geology. listed buildings (Taunton Deane Borough Council, 2016; , 2016) and Pevsner’s guide to the buildings of South and THE TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF (Orbach and Pevsner, 2014). Large scale Ordnance TAUNTON DEANE Survey maps from the 1880s onwards (free to view on the National Library of Scotland website) were Taunton Deane is diverse both topographically also consulted to identify local . and geologically. The local authority area extends Using the data collected during each survey, from on the lower slopes of the totals were calculated for the number of buildings, in the north, to boundary walls and dressings made from each stone on the high plateau of the in the type. These were then converted to percentages. south, and from in the in

Fig. 5 Diversity of rock types used as building stones in Taunton Deane

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the west, to on the In total twenty-one different building stones were in the east. recorded during the survey. These are described The higher ground of the Brendon and Quantock below. More detailed descriptions of these building Hills to the west and north of the Deane is comprised stones are contained in the following references: of Devonian and Carboniferous rocks which are English Heritage (2011) and Edmonds and Williams faulted against later Triassic strata. The latter, (1985). often softer and less resistant to erosion than the former, comprise the less elevated ground between Building stones of Devonian age the Quantock and Brendon Hills. Triassic Mercia Hangman Sandstone – a formation that consists Mudstone forms the lowest ground around Taunton. of reddish-purple to greenish-brown sandstones, South of Taunton, the Blackdown Hills escarpment siltstones and conglomerates, which form the is comprised of Triassic, and Cretaceous northern part of the Quantock Hills. Although rocks capped by clay with flints (chert). widely used for building in West Somerset and North , they were only recorded in the present survey at West Bagborough. TYPES OF BUILDING STONE USED IN TAUNTON DEANE Tuff – a distinctive, fine-grained, grey-greenish rock, which outcrops within the From the data collected during the survey, Figure Ilfracombe Slates in Cockercombe and Keeper’s 5 shows the proportions of each of the main rock Combe on the eastern side of the Quantock Hills. It types used as building stones in Taunton Deane. is formed of a volcanic dust. Within Taunton Deane Figure 6 shows the principal sources of these it is only used for decorative purposes on buildings building stones where they occur in Taunton Deane. built of other stone, such as in Park Street, Taunton.

Fig. 6 Principal sources of building stones in Taunton Deane

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Devonian – occur as four thin, and are widely used in buildings in the Exeter area but in places discontinuous, horizons of occur only rarely in buildings in Taunton Deane. in the central and eastern Quantocks. They are Hestercombe Diorite – an igneous rock which inter-bedded with, and often pass laterally into, occurs in a few dykes at Hestercombe just north calcareous Ilfracombe Slates.2 They were widely of Taunton. This is the only intrusive igneous rock quarried for lime manufacture. Within the study in the area. There are two disused quarries within area they were only recorded in buildings at Hestercombe Gardens. The rock is hard, fine- . grained and reddish in colour (Prudden and White, Morte Slate – a formation which consists of 2007). Its use as a building stone is limited largely grey-green to purple-red slates, siltstones and to the Hestercombe Estate and the tower of St Mary sandstones. The siltstones and sandstones have been Magdalene Church in Taunton. widely used in Taunton and the southern Quantock Hills. The stone is not easily dressed and shaped Building stones of Permo-Triassic age and is often seen in walls as rubble stone. There Permo-Trias Sandstone, Conglomerate and Breccia are numerous old quarries, most of which are now – although the lower beds of the Permo-Trias have inaccessible. The stone can still be seen at King’s been subdivided into Halberton Breccia, Budleigh Cliff Wood at . Salterton Pebble Beds and Otter Sandstone, it is not usually possible to know which part of the Pickwell Down Sandstone – a hard, red-purple succession red sandstones, conglomerates and sandstone which has been used widely for building breccias seen in buildings are from. Despite their around Wiveliscombe. composition (pebbles and angular fragments of Pilton Mudstone – the sandstone beds, which form rock in a matrix of red sandstone), the latter are part of this mudstone horizon, can be difficult to surprisingly good building stones and are used distinguish from Pickwell Down Sandstone. It is widely for building both as ashlar and rubble stone highly likely that buildings in Waterrow are built to the west of Bishop’s Lydeard. of Pilton Mudstone since there are two disused quarries in the mudstone on the northern edge of Building stones of Triassic age the village. Church is also built of Pilton Otter Sandstone – a red, fine-grained sandstone, Mudstone (Berthon, 2005). which is an excellent building stone. It can be seen used in Bishop’s Lydeard, for example, in the church Other Devonian Sandstones or Slates – this general and Lydeard House, and was quarried just to the category was used to record building stones when west of the village. There are many similar horizons it was not possible to accurately identify which of red sandstone within the Triassic outcrop but for formation of the Devonian a sandstone or slate was the purposes of the survey, building stones were from. only identified as Otter Sandstone where they occurred near to a known outcrop. Building stones of Carboniferous age Doddiscombe Slate – is a black to dark grey North Curry Sandstone – a distinctive, medium slate formerly quarried at Tracebridge west of to coarse grained, greenish, brown or grey-brown Wellington. It has been used locally in , sandstone. It forms ridges within the Mercia Appley and Kittisford Barton for slates and walling. Mudstone to the west and east of Taunton. It has been used in numerous buildings, such as the Westleigh Limestone – a hard, grey, fine-grained church at Norton Fitzwarren and Queen’s College limestone usually with dark chert banding. It is in Taunton and in the villages of Hele, Knapp and quarried in East Devon close to the border with North Curry. Taunton Deane and has been a commonly used building stone in parts of Taunton Deane since the White Lias – a white limestone which can be found middle of the 19th century. The quarries are still to the south and east of Taunton. Apart from Holy active today, but only for aggregate. Trinity Church in Taunton, where its white colour is particularly distinctive, it is not used widely as a Building stones of Permian age building stone in Taunton Deane. Exeter Volcanics – are a series of Permian lavas which occur between Exeter and Tiverton. They

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Building stones of Jurassic age FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF Blue Lias – was quarried to the south and east BUILDING STONE of Taunton, where it forms a prominent ridge extending eastwards from Blagdon Hill to Hatch From the data collected during the survey, five Beauchamp and beyond to . The formation factors were identified as affecting the choice of consists of inter-bedded, blue-grey mudstones and building stone. These were: location, function limestones. The limestones break naturally in and properties of the stone, and type and date of pieces which are ideal for building. However they building. The building stones used in Taunton are of variable quality and can suffer from flakiness Deane on a settlement by settlement basis are listed as they weather. in Table 1. Ham Hill Stone – a golden brown limestone Location containing many broken shell fragments, which The location of a building is usually the main and has been quarried west of Montacute since Roman often the only reason for the choice of building times. Along with Bath Stone, it is the most widely stone. Prior to the 19th century it was difficult and used stone for dressings, particularly on churches expensive to transport stone by road, especially and older, high status country houses. in rural areas where roads were often impassible Doulting Stone – a white to yellow-brown, for carts heavily laden with stone. Consequently crystalline limestone, often containing crinoids local stone was used for most buildings. This is and . It is a freestone quarried in the Shepton borne out by the data in Figure 7 which shows that Mallet area. Without using a hand lens, it can be the principal building stones used in most areas difficult to distinguish from Bath Stone. It is not correspond very closely to the local geology. widely used in the Taunton area. This relationship is most convincingly illustrated by examining building stones that only outcrop in Other Inferior – this was recorded once small areas. North Curry Sandstone, for example, during the survey for an oolitic limestone that could outcrops in relatively small areas west and east of not be identified as either Doulting or Bath Stone. Taunton. It is only used as a building stone close to Bath Stone – a white, cream or pale yellow oolitic its source, around Hele to the west of Taunton, and limestone which, after Ham Hill Stone, is the most between Knapp and in the east. widely used stone for dressings in Taunton Deane. Even more localized is the use of stones that It is a freestone with very few impurities, which can have very limited outcrops such as Hestercombe be easily cut and carved and is an ideal building and Diorite that is used on the Hestercombe estate, and dressing stone. Devonian limestone that is used in the church and the Manor House at Cothelstone. The most likely Building stones of Cretaceous age sources for the diorite and the limestone are quarries Calcareous Grit – a greenish grey, coarse-grained, that were less than 600m from the two localities. calcareous sandstone which was quarried at several Although some rock types, for example the locations on the Blackdown Hills. It has been used Triassic sandstones and conglomerates, outcrop in some buildings, particularly churches, south over much larger areas, the data collected during of Taunton. Wellington Monument is faced with the survey suggests that the stone used for most Calcareous Grit. buildings was sourced locally. By walking the ground and examining large scale Ordnance Building stones of Miocene to Pleistocene age Survey maps from the 1880s, it is apparent that Chert – a micro-crystalline form of quartz which, many villages and even farms had small quarries when formed of nodules in chalk rocks, is also nearby or on their land. described as flint. It is a hard and durable building All of the rock types, bar one, that outcrop in stone but is difficult to cut and shape. It occurs Taunton Deane were used as building stones. In across the top of the Blackdown Hills and below areas of Mercia Mudstone, which is excellent for the north-facing, scarp slope of the hills in fields as making bricks but too soft to be used as a building far north as Taunton. It is widely used as a building stone, the next nearest source of stone was used. For stone in these areas and is the only stone used for example on the Mercia Mudstone outcrop, north most buildings in the parishes of Churchstanton and and north-east of Taunton, the principal building . stone is Morte Slate. To the east and south-east it is

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TABLE 1 – USE OF BUILDING STONES IN TAUNTON DEANE

Town or Village Stone 1 % Stone 2 % Stone 3 % Stone 4 % Angersleigh Chert 98 Ham Hill Stone 1 North Curry Sandstone 1 Appley Devonian Sandstone 65 Westleigh Limestone 35 Ashbrittle Westleigh Limestone 65 Pilton Mudstone 23 Devonian Sandstone 9 Others 3 Permo-Trias 99 Ham Hill Stone 1 Sandstone Permo-Trias Bathealton Pilton Mudstone 48 43 Bath Stone 4 Others 5 Sandstone Bathpool Morte Slate 96 Westleigh Limestone 3 Bath Stone 1 Bishop’s Hull Chert 30 Westleigh Limestone 25 Morte Slate 20 Others 25 Permo-Trias Bishop’s Lydeard 96 Ham Hill Stone 2 Morte Slate 1 Bath Stone 1 Sandstone Bishopswood Chert 98 Ham Hill Stone 1 Bath Stone 1 Blagdon Hill Chert 97 Ham Hill Stone 2 Blue Lias 1 Bradford-on-Tone Westleigh Limestone 62 Chert 17 North Curry Sandstone 10 Others 11 Burrowbridge Blue Lias 84 Ham Hill Stone 10 North Curry Sandstone 6 Morte Slate 87 Ham Hill Stone 5 Permo-Trias Sandstone 2 Others 6 Pickwell Down Chipstable 100 Sandstone Churchinford Chert 99 Ham Hill Stone 1 Permo-Trias Cothelstone 40 Devonian Limestone 40 Morte Slate 13 Others 7 Sandstone Permo-Trias 98 Bath Stone 1 Ham Hill Stone 1 Sandstone Blue Lias 48 Chert 47 Devonian Sandstone 3 Others 2 Morte Slate 60 Blue Lias 39 Ham Hill Stone 1 Blue Lias 94 Chert 6 Permo-Trias Morte Slate 62 35 Blue Lias 1 Others 2 Sandstone Permo-Trias 98 Doulting Stone 1 Ham Hill Stone 1 Sandstone Permo-Trias Ford 95 Other 4 Bath Stone 1 Sandstone Ford Street Chert 99 Bath Stone 1 Permo-Trias Halse 98 Ham Hill Stone 1 Bath Stone 1 Sandstone Blue Lias 80 White Lias 10 Ham Hill Stone 6 Others 4 Permo-Trias North Curry Hillcommon & 93 3 Bath Stone 2 Others 2 Sandstone Sandstone Permo-Trias Hillfarrance Westleigh Limestone 48 24 North Curry Sandstone 24 Others 4 Sandstone Permo-Trias Holywell Lake Westleigh Limestone 85 15 Sandstone North Curry Morte Slate 95 2 Ham Hill Stone 1 Others 2 Sandstone Kittisford Barton Devonian Sst 90 Doddiscombe Slate 10 North Curry Knapp Blue Lias 60 39 White Lias 1 Sandstone

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North Permo-Trias 93 Westleigh Limestone 4 Ham Hill Stone 2 Curry 1 Sandstone Sandstone Pickwell Down Langley Marsh 70 Morte Slate 30 Sandstone Permo-Trias 98 Ham Hill Stone 1 North Curry Sandstone 1 Sandstone Permo-Trias Milverton 96 Ham Hill Stone 2 North Curry Sandstone 1 Bath Stone 1 Sandstone Monkton Heathfield Morte Slate 100 North Curry Ham Hill North Curry Blue Lias 52 36 Morte Slate 7 5 Sandstone Stone North Curry Permo-Trias Norton Fitzwarren 43 32 Westleigh Limestone 15 Others 10 Sandstone Sandstone Permo-Trias Ham Hill 49 Westleigh Limestone 38 North Curry Sandstone 12 1 Sandstone Stone Chert 80 Blue Lias 16 Bath Stone 2 Others 2 Permo-Trias Rockwell Green Chert 35 33 Westleigh Limestone 30 Others 2 Sandstone Blue Lias 59 Morte Slate 38 Ham Hill Stone 2 Bath Stone 1 Permo-Trias Runnington 99 Ham Hill Stone 1 Sandstone Chert 50 Westleigh Limestone 43 Permo-Trias Sandstone 4 Others 3 Sampford Moor Chert 100 Blue Lias 98 Ham Hill Stone 2 North Curry Staplegrove Morte Slate 97 1 Ham Hill Stone 1 Bath Stone 1 Sandstone North Curry Stoke St Gregory Blue Lias 66 26 White Lias 5 Others 3 Sandstone Blue Lias 98 Ham Hill Stone 1 Bath Stone 1 Taunton North Westleigh Limestone 51 Morte Slate 32 Ham Hill Stone 6 Others 11 Taunton South-West Chert 24 Westleigh Limestone 22 North Curry Sandstone 20 Others 34 Taunton South-East Morte Slate 35 Westleigh Limestone 23 Blue Lias 23 Others 19 Blue Lias 80 Ham Hill Stone 7 White Lias 5 Others 8 Permo-Trias Ham Hill Tonedale Westleigh Limestone 62 36 Bath Stone 1 1 Sandstone Stone Chert 78 Blue Lias 11 Ham Hill Stone 3 Others 8 Waterrow Devonian Sandstone 85 Others 15 Permo- Permo-Trias Wellington North 41 Chert 26 Westleigh Limestone 19 Trias 14 Sandstone Sandstone Permo-Trias Wellington South Chert 67 12 Bath Stone 12 Others 9 Sandstone Permo-Trias West Bagborough Devonian Sandstone 70 29 Bath Stone 1 Sandstone North Curry Chert 95 3 Ham Hill Stone 2 Sandstone Blue Lias 96 Ham Hill Stone 3 Bath Stone 1 Morte Slate 98 Ham Hill Stone 1 Bath Stone 1 Pickwell Down Permo-Trias Wiveliscombe 82 14 Bath Stone 2 Others 2 Sandstone Sandstone

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Fig. 7 Relationship between the use and sources of building stones in Taunton Deane

Blue Lias, to the south and south-west it is chert and ashlar blocks or mouldings for windows and doors. to the west and north-west it is Triassic sandstone. The best stones for this purpose are freestones, Immediately east of Taunton, several buildings which by their nature are easy to work and of in Ruishton and Creech St Michael are built of uniform composition and texture. Of the local alternating courses of Morte Slate and Blue Lias. building stones, ashlar blocks have been cut most Before the middle of the 19th century, very little extensively from Otter and North Curry Sandstone. stone was used from outside Taunton Deane. The The old library in Taunton and the church in principal exceptions to this were Ham Hill, Bath and Bishop’s Lydeard are good examples of buildings Doulting Stone that were used in small quantities built of the former, and Queen’s College in Taunton for dressings and windows, particularly of churches and the church in Norton Fitzwarren are good and for the facades of some finer buildings. examples of buildings built of the latter. Both stones After the middle of the 19th century, Westleigh have also been used for the mouldings of windows Limestone from East Devon was imported in quite and doors, especially of churches to the west and large quantities for use in buildings and other north-west of Taunton (see Figure 8). Neither stone construction projects along a corridor following the is particularly well suited for this purpose as over canal and railway from the Devon border through centuries both have suffered considerable damage Wellington to Taunton. due to weathering. Calcareous Grit has also been used for ashlar and dressings in buildings on the Function and Properties of the Stone Blackdown Hills, most notably in the churches at These two factors are intrinsically linked. This is Churchstanton and Otterford. most noticeable in the choice of stone for dressings, It is evident from the survey that most of the i.e. stone that has to be cut or carved to create remaining rock types that outcrop in Taunton Deane

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Fig. 8 Use of stone for the external dressings of churches

have been worked into ashlar blocks at one time or Quantocks, to the brown, grey and white of chert in another, although by no means as extensively as villages like Churchinford and Blagdon Hill above Otter and North Curry Sandstone. Blue Lias has and below the Blackdown Hills. Elsewhere colours been widely used for flagstones and to a lesser range from the purple and dark red sandstones of extent for quoins. All Saints Church in Rockwell Wiveliscombe and Chipstable in the Brendon Hills Green is made of squared blocks of Permo-Triassic to the blue and buff limestones of the villages conglomerate, and chert has been fashioned bordering the Somerset Levels. Sandwiched into small blocks for use as dripstones above the between the high ground of the Brendon and windows of cottages in Churchinford. These rocks Quantock Hills are the red sandstones characteristic have been used as ashlar, but none are suitable for of buildings in Bishop’s Lydeard, Combe Florey carving. Higher quality stones, most notably Ham and Milverton. Hill Stone, Bath Stone and Doulting Stone have been imported for this purpose and these stones Type of Building predominate in the dressings of churches (Figure 8) The type of building does not so much affect the and other prestigious buildings. choice of building stone as it does the way in which Although in most cases not a reason for the the stone was used. choice of building stone, it is the properties of Because the local stones are difficult to work, the stone used for the walls of buildings that give most vernacular buildings in Taunton Deane are the villages in Taunton Deane their distinctive built of rubble stone, i.e. rough, undressed stone. appearance. Visually by far and away the most Generally the stone is not laid in courses. There important property is the colour of the stone. This is one exception to this and that is for houses built ranges from the grey-green and dark purple of the of Blue Lias limestone. Unlike other stones, the slates and sandstones of villages like Kingston St limestone occurs in thin beds of uniform thickness Mary and West Monkton at the southern end of the which can be split into blocks of similar height, that

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Fig. 9 Use of stone for the external walls of churches

are well suited for laying in courses. Where the large country and town houses were constructed local stone could be cut into ashlar blocks it was of stone sourced from outside Taunton Deane. This also used for quoins and the surrounds for windows was mostly Bath Stone, but because of the high cost and doors. If this was not possible, brick was often of transport this was often only used for the front used instead of stone. This applies particularly to elevations of these buildings. farmhouses, cottages and barns built of Morte slates and sandstones, Blue Lias limestone and chert. Date of Building Most churches (see Figure 9) are also built of It is evident from the survey data that date of locally sourced rubble stone. But where suitable construction was an important factor that affected stone existed (for example in areas of Otter and the choice of building stone. North Curry Sandstone), large ashlar blocks were Prior to the opening of canals and railways in often used to give extra strength to church towers. the 19th century, almost the only stone imported Local stone was also used for many large, country from outside of the Deane was Ham Hill Stone. It houses and other high status buildings, including was transported from as early as the 13th century for example in Taunton the Municipal Hall (Morte from its source at Ham Hill, near Montacute, to Slate), the old library (Otter Sandstone), Queen’s Taunton Deane along the rivers Parrett and Tone College (North Curry Sandstone) and King’s (Prudden, 2001). As mentioned previously, it was College (sandstone from the Morte Slate formation). used extensively throughout the Deane for the These buildings were often built of ashlar blocks dressings and windows of churches and other high rather than rubble stone and the quoins, dressings status buildings. and windows were most frequently made of Ham It was not until the opening of the canals Hill Stone, and later Bath Stone, rather than local ( to Taunton in 1827 and Taunton to stone. Before the First World War only a very few Tiverton in 1839) and the Taunton to Exeter railway commercial buildings (most notably banks) and in 1844 that other stones began to be used for

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Fig. 11. Use of stone for the dressings of buildings, not including churches

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buildings in Taunton Deane. The most striking of with preserving the distinctiveness of local towns example of this was the use of Westleigh Limestone and villages. quarried across the border in Devon, just to the west of Taunton Deane. Stone was first transported along a tramway from the quarry at Westleigh to ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS a wharf on the Taunton to Tiverton canal (the ) and later to a siding on the The published and unpublished works of the late at Burlescombe. Figure 10 Hugh Prudden have been an invaluable source shows how this stone was then used in buildings of inspiration and reference for this work. The along a distinct corridor following the route of the authors would like to thank the Somerset Heritage canal and the railway from the Devon border to Centre, to whom Hugh donated his unpublished Taunton. The stone was used in many prestigious archive of geological material, for agreeing to the buildings in Taunton, including Shire Hall, St use of this material. Thanks are also given to Dr John’s Church, Taunton School and the former Mike Barr for his valuable help and encouragement Technical Institute in Corporation Street. All were and especially for access to his unpublished data built after 1850. on Somerset building stones. Dr Andy King is Around the same time Bath Stone began to thanked for his advice from the start of the survey, replace Ham Hill Stone as the stone of choice for as are the staff of the South West Heritage Trust, dressings, as shown in Figure 11. It was at this time particularly Nic Wall and Bob Croft, for their that Bath Stone also became the stone of choice for support and encouragement throughout the survey. a number of villas, large town and country houses Steve Crabtree is thanked for his helpful comments and banks that sought to copy the grandeur and on the draft of this paper and the British Geological elegance of the architecture of Bath. Survey (BGS) kindly gave permission for use of their digital data in the maps.

CONCLUSIONS NOTES This study has shown a very close correlation between the types of building stone used in Taunton 1 Percentages for pie charts that combine data on the Deane and the local geology. This is especially true use of building stones for building and boundary walls for vernacular buildings and for most churches from and dressings were calculated using the following the time of the oldest surviving stone buildings formula: (8a+4b+c) / (8A+4B+C) x 100 where for until the spread of canals and railways in the 19th each survey A = total number of stone buildings, B century. Where there has been a variation from the = total number of stone boundary walls, and C = total local sourcing of stone, it has been either because number of buildings with stone dressings; and a = the local stone is totally unsuitable, for example number of buildings of a particular stone type, and b Mercia Mudstone in the Taunton area, or because and c = numbers of boundary walls and buildings with dressings of the same stone. Weightings were applied the person or persons commissioning a building to the number of stone buildings and boundary walls could afford to acquire stone from further afield. so as not to over represent the importance of the small Until later times, when Bath Stone became more amount of stone used in dressings. widely available, this was usually Ham Hill Stone. 2 Sandstones, siltstones and slates from the Ilfracombe The survey method developed during this Slate formation were not recorded as having been work has proved to be a practical way to collect used as building stones in Taunton Deane. quantitative data on the use of building stones over a large area. The use of these data in a GIS (Geographical Information System) has REFERENCES the potential to provide conservation officers, developers, planners and others with a powerful Barr, M. W. C. (Unpublished) ‘Building stone data for tool for managing Conservation Areas, Areas of Devon and Somerset’. Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks and Berthon, G. (2005) ‘Guide to St Bartholomew’s Church, Landscape Character Areas. Using this technology, Bathealton, Somerset’, unpublished church guide. building stones can be mapped against other British Geological Survey (2016) ‘Strategic Stone landscape features and characteristics, to assist Study online database of Building and Quarry

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Stones’, at http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/buildingStone/ Prudden, H. C. (2003) ‘Somerset Building Stones – A BuildingStone.html. Guide’, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological Edmonds, E. A. and Williams, B. J. (1985) ‘Geology of and Natural History Society, 146, pp. 27-36. the Country around Taunton and the Quantock Hills’. Prudden, H. C. (2004) ‘Somerset Geology – A Good Rock Memoir of the British Geological Survey (Sheet 295), Guide’, at people.bath.ac.uk/exxbgs/Somerset_Good_ HMSO. Rock_Guide.pdf. English Heritage (2011) ‘Strategic Stone Study. A Prudden, H.C. (Unpublished) ‘Table of Building Stones in Building Stone Atlas of Somerset and Exmoor’, at Somerset Churches. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/buildingStones/ Prudden, H. C. and White, P., (2007) ‘The Stones of StrategicStoneStudy/EH_atlases.html. Hestercombe: A Geological Tour of the Rocks and Historic England (2016) ‘Online database of Listed Stonework of Hestercombe Gardens’, Hestercombe Buildings’, at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ Gardens Trust. the-list/. Somerset Historic Environment Service (2015) ‘Taunton Orbach, J. and Pevsner, N. (2014) The Buildings of Deane Building Stone Survey’, unpublished project England. Somerset: South and West, Yale University brief. Press. Taunton Deane Borough Council (2016) ‘Online database Prudden, H. C. (2001) ‘Geology and Landscape of of Listed Buildings’ at http://www2.tauntondeane.gov. Taunton Deane’, Taunton Deane Borough Council. uk/webpages/listedbuildings/.

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