Environment and Heritage Services

B uilding B locks
exploring the geological heritage of our built environment
Introduction
Leicestershire and Rutland have
a wealth of different rock types,
including some very distinctive
building stones. These range from
the ancient rocks of Charnwood
Forest, to the limestones of the
east, which were laid down when
the area was under a tropical sea.
This has lead to the distinctive
building materials and styles of
our villages. If these rocks cease
to be valued, some of the special
nature of the villages and the
landscape of Leicestershire and
Rutland will be lost.
stones. The substitutes are often
easier and cheaper to produce.
This is leading to a loss of local
distinctiveness and individuality
for towns and villages across
Leicestershire and Rutland.
This booklet will, hopefully, make
you aware of your special local
features. By highlighting that
geology is all around us, it may
encourage the conservation and
celebration of local landmarks and
their protection into the future.
Our buildings and built heritage
are a visible form of geology.

Photgraphs reproduced with kind permission

of Leicestershire County Council

Aerial photograph of Leicester

showing rows of identical houses

It is important to value features

that make a place distinctive.
Every day they are being destroyed
and replaced by mass-produced
standardised products, which Husbands Bosworth a rural village
could ultimately mean we all end with its own style and character
up living in identical concrete
jungles. With the increasing pace
of modern life it is often not
practical to use local building
 eology is
G In villages you can find many
Everywhere
Geology has shaped our lives
since the beginning of time and
continues to do so today.
Geology is not just about mining
and quarrying, every hill and
hollow where you live is there for
a reason.
Kerb dresser at work
People have relied upon materials
extracted from the earths crust for
thousands
of years. In the present day,
nearly everything has a geological
component - from the cars we
drive, to the fuel they use, to the
roads they travel on; these are all
linked to the ground we walk on.
Looking around your own home,
you will be amazed by what is
linked to geology. Items such as
toothpaste, toilets and toasters all
have components from the rocks
beneath our feet.
The buildings we live in can be the
most apparent sign of what lies
beneath the topsoil.
of the houses are made of the
local stone, rather than brick.
This creates the individuality
of the village, and this local
distinctiveness runs through the
whole fabric of the village.
Local Distinctiveness
All the factors that make your town
or village different from the next
make up the local distinctiveness
of an area. Local distinctiveness is
about places and our relationship
with them. Places that have special
character are the essence of
local distinctiveness.
Bardon Hill Quarry
The local geology is inextricably
linked with local distinctiveness.
There are many factors which can
be influenced by local geology.
The local landscape may have been
altered by mining or quarrying.
These industries would have also
swelled the population, often
bringing in new influences. The
buildings and houses built are
themselves a lasting face of local
distinctiveness. In a sense, we can
say that the whole character of the
landscape is due to the geology.
Threats to Local
Distinctiveness
It has become more and more
important to value features that
make a place special, because
everyday they are being destroyed
and replaced by mass produced
standardised products. This
is leading to a loss of local
distinctiveness and a loss of
identity for towns and villages
across Leicestershire and Rutland.
Once buildings and other features
are destroyed, they are gone
forever and local heritage is lost
with them. Leicestershire and
Rutland have some very distinctive
building stones; if the same stones
cease to be used, the individuality
and special nature of areas will be
lost.
Rock Watch
What are Rocks?
Rocks form the solid crust beneath
our feet. They may be made up of
one or more minerals. They define
the shape of the land and the
nature of the soil. This influences
the types of plants that grow and
the countryside we see around us.
Fossils found within the rocks
provide us with clues about the
evolution of life on earth and a
measure of geological time.
Rock Types
There are three general groups
of rocks. These groups are largely
based on how the rocks were
formed.
Sedimentary;
sandstone and mudstone
are formed from deposits of
weathered and eroded pieces of
older rock built up over many
years. The remains of once living
things such as shells of marine
organisms can build up to form
limestone. Plant material deposits
form coal, in a process that takes
many millions of years.
Igneous;
igneous rocks are formed from
hot magma melts (molten rocks)
which rise from deep within the
Earth to cooler regions. The melt
then solidifies and forms rocks.
Igneous rocks which are trapped
under the Earths crust cool slowly
and this leads to coarse grained
rocks with the large crystals, seen
in most granites. They are called
plutonic and gain their name from
Pluto the God of the Underworld
who as legend has it, lived under
the Earths surface.
Volcanic igneous rocks are melts
that have erupted at the Earths
surface to form lava and ashes.
These are the rocks found when Regional metamorphism is
a volcano erupts. The lava cools caused by high temperature
quickly to form small crystals. and pressures brought about
by large scale movements of the
Metamorphic; Earths crust. Shale is turned
igneous or sedimentary rocks, that into slate by this process.
have been changed by heat and/or
pressure in the crust, are known as Metamorphism accounts for
metamorphic or changed rocks. why slate can be split easily.
There are two ways in which The activity causes the minerals
changes can occur:- that make up the rock to align in
one direction, causing the rock
Thermal metamorphism is to split in a preferred way.
caused by magma rising in the These cracks, known as cleavage,
Earths crust and baking the can be used to split the slate into
rocks around it. Limestone is the thin layers we see on roofs.
turned into marble in this way.
Leicestershire and
Rutland Building
Stones
Throughout history several local
rocks have been used for building.
Before roads, railways and canals,
few could use anything but local
building materials. Where no
suitable stone was available,
mud and wood were often used
until the development of making
bricks from local clays. The use of
different stones and other building
materials in the past has given a
varying character to the towns and
villages of the counties.
Setts are hand shaped pieces
of granite broken into regular
sized blocks. This was done
with hammers of varying
size and weight. The biggest
hammer was called big
burster and the smallest the
squaring hammer.
The use of stone today is very
different from that of the past.
Very little stone is cut directly into
building blocks, but instead the
stone is crushed and mixed with
cement to produce concrete or a
reconstituted stone. The number
of quarries producing stone has
shrunk to just a few, these are on
a much larger scale than the old
building stone quarries.
The granite rocks of Leicestershire
are quarried for roadstone and
concrete aggregate, but they
were formerly used for building
materials. The rough stone walls
of older houses near Mountsorrel,
Groby and Croft are of rich pink
and green granites. Some of this
rock was cut into regularly shaped
blocks and used, for instance,
to make the road bridge at
Barrow-upon-Soar. Many older
roads and pavements in the county
were surfaced by setts of these
granite rocks. Kerb stones from
Mountsorrel can even be seen on
the streets of London.
Great Slate
Local stone roofs were made
from the slate formerly quarried
at Swithland, Woodhouse Eaves
and Groby, called Swithland
Slate. This thick and heavy slate
is characteristically laid in rows
of decreasing size up the roof to
save weight. The rough texture
and dark blue, purple and green
colours of these roofs add to
the distinctive character of the
buildings.
A row of houses made from local
stone in Woodhouse Eaves
The coarse grained slate of the and shape than the ironstone
area often contained brassy which weathers considerably over
crystals of iron pyrite fools the years.
gold.
West Leicestershire has few good
building stones. Sandstones have
Slate-like rocks of Charnwood,
been used from several areas, but
called hornstones, which break
these are usually fairly soft and
into irregularly shaped pieces,
weather quite quickly.
were used locally for making walls.
Dry stone walls seen around fields Limestone is quarried at
and houses are characteristic of Breedon-on-the-Hill in northwest
the area. When the rocks were Leicestershire. This has been
worked to produce roof slate, used locally for building walls,
there was a lot of waste providing especially in Breedon itself.
cheap stone for houses and walls.
Many of the stones were long and
narrow, tapering from a wider
central point to almost a point at
both ends. The pieces of stone
fitted together in very distinctive
patterns seen in villages like
Woodhouse Eaves.

Freestones are rocks that can

be sawn or chiselled easily into
the required shape.
Walls of these stones are made
of regularly shaped blocks.
Two good freestones which
were extensively used for local
buildings are found in the east
of Leicestershire. The brown
ironstone seen in villages from
Tilton to Belvoir came from
numerous small quarries and
was often used together with the
cream coloured limestone which
comes from further east. The
harder limestone was often used
for the corners of walls or around
doors and windows, since it was
more durable and easier to dress
Breedon Church and landscape
The parish church is situated
on top of the hill that is being
quarried. The church, which can
be seen from many miles away,
now has a sheer cliff on one side
where millions of tonnes of rock
have been removed.
Blue Lias, another limestone,
used to be quarried at
Barrow-upon-Soar. This has been
used locally in places for walls,
but is of variable quality and can
sometimes weather badly. In fact
this and Breedon limestone were
mostly used for making lime for
cement or agricultural purposes.
Local stone was often recycled
and used in new buildings and
walls when older buildings
were demolished.
In the south of Leicestershire
no local building stones have
been used extensively. In the
past people made use of local
pebbles and mud to make walls.
There are some stones in south
Leicestershire, particularly diorites.
They are similar to granites, being
coarse grained igneous rocks.
Diorites can be found in Croft and
Enderby.
Rock Detective
Identifying Building Stones
Granite war memorial
at Mountsorrel
Granite;
of all the igneous rocks, granite
is the most commonly used
as building stone. It is made
up of three main minerals,
quartz, feldspar and mica.
Mountsorrel granite is mainly
pink. Markfieldite, another local
granite, is more green in colour.
They have large easily recognisable
crystals and can be found in either
its natural rough state or highly
polished.
Sandstone;
they are literally grains of sand
compacted and cemented together
by mineral matter. They are often
strong and easy to quarry. The
strongest sandstones have their
quartz grains cemented together
by silica.
What is Weathering?
When rocks are used for
building they are exposed to
the elements. Wind, rain and
frost weaken the bonding in
softer rocks and small grains
of rock start to fall off. This
is weathering. Rocks are not
always the same hardness all
the way through so some parts
will weather and some will not.
This is how fossils can
be seen.
Gritstone;
similar to sandstone but with large
and irregular grains of other rock.
Leicester Prison on Welford Road
in the city is made from Millstone
Grit, a typical gritstone.
Limestone;
these are essentially the remains of
the hard parts of marine creatures.
After many years of weathering Slate and Marble;
fossils can often be clearly seen. these building stones are
Many Carboniferous limestones metamorphic. Marble is a
are ideal building stones, usually limestone changed by heat and
of varying colours. They polish pressure. Slate is clay or shale
very well and are often misnamed changed by heat and pressure.
marbles, but this name is best
Our local slate is called Swithland
reserved for limestones that
Slate because it was originally
have been changed by heat and
quarried at Swithland in the
pressure.
Charnwood Forest area.
Oolitic limestone;
these are used widely throughout
Britain in buildings. The rock
is made up of large quantities
of rounded grains. The grains
are pieces of shells rolled in
precipitated lime on the sea bed.
Oolitic literally means egg form
or egg shaped. They vary greatly in
quality and their character is spoilt
by sawing and rubbing.

Marlstone;
a thin band of ironstone in east
Leicestershire and Rutland.
When fresh it is blue green in
colour, but it rapidly discolours
to brown when exposed. It is
commonly used as a building
stone in east Leicestershire but
does not always weather well.
Corners and cappings of walls
are usually constructed with
some other stronger stone.
Marlstone often contains fossils
which weather out, breaking the Fossils embedded in Marlstone
surface of the stone. This can be
seen at Tilton and Great Stretton
Churches.
Discovering
Building Stones
All over Leicestershire and Rutland
there are fine examples of local
distinctiveness in all kinds of
building materials. Here is an idea
of places to look for geology in
your village.
The Great Divide
Broadly speaking, Leicestershire
and Rutland falls into two halves
as far as domestic building stones
are concerned.
To the east of the Counties
We are in the great stone belt
of England which runs from
Dorset to Yorkshire, although in
Leicestershire it is often deeply
overlain by clay. Stone villages
like Hallaton, Great Easton and
Bringhurst are built of marlstone
which ranges from a tawny yellow
to a dark brown. In the extreme
north-east, the true oolitic
limestone crops out and gives
silvery-grey walls and buildings in
villages such as Waltham-on-the-
Wolds. Often oolite and marlstone
are used together to give colour
banded buildings.
To the west of the Counties
The stone of Charnwood quarries
was hard and difficult to work.
It could be used for rubble walling
as rough angular pieces.
Door and window surrounds have
to be shaped from sandstones
from nearby outcrops. It was also
used in the medieval bridges of
the Soar and its tributaries.
Sandstones from the small local
quarries at Ibstock, Swannington
and Alton Hill were being used
in the 14th and 15th century.
They were too soft to be used in
ordinary houses, although they
seem to be used in churches and
secular buildings, particularly for
moulding and details.
Charnwood stone in the west of
Leicestershire and Blue Lias slabs
and Marlstone in the east were
used in church building from
the thirteenth century onwards.
Although there must have been
numerous small quarries scattered
all over these two stone districts,
worked stone does not appear to
have been used for the building of
ordinary houses until late in the
16th century.
Weve got no stone
In the south and west of
Leicestershire there are very few
good building stones, so in these
areas people have had to make
do with other building materials.
Until the seventeenth century,
the standard house was wooden
framed, filled with mud and straw
or pebbles. These houses had
thatched roofs. The walls needed
lots of maintenance and
were not as strong as bricks.
Due to this the mud walls
were often knocked out and
replaced with bricks. No early
examples of these houses remain
in Leicestershire today. In the
seventeenth century bricks started
to be used in domestic buildings
in the county. This county is rich
in clays for brick making.
The oldest brick house in Leicestershire
In Brook Street, Syston is the
oldest known all-brick house in
the county, dated 1686.
The mouldings at the front are
well worth studying as an example
of the builders attempt to deal
artistically with his new material.
In a cul-de-sac to the north-west of
the parish church there are other
curious attempts at moulding and
ornament, which seems peculiar
to villages about the confluence of
the Wreake and Soar.
Diaper brickwork is another
style used in some parts of
Leicestershire. Red bricks are
mixed with blue or black bricks to
make attractive patterns.
The use of diaper work lessened
through the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries.
Before bricks were used in
domestic buildings they were
used in the grander houses of
Leicestershire.
Unusual mouldings on
the front of the house
Ashby Castle
In the main, sandstone quarried
from nearby was used. Some
brickwork was used in the garden
walls and towers. This is the
earliest example of the use of
bricks in Leicestershire since the
Romans departed more than a
thousand years earlier.
The Lost Art of Brickmaking
For more than a thousand
years bricks went out of use
in Leicestershire. The Romans
used clay extensively for bricks
and tiles, examples can be seen
at the Jewry Wall in Leicester.
When the Romans left Britain
in the late 4th century AD brick
making and other civilised
arts were lost during the
Dark Ages.

Kirby Muxloe Castle
Kirby castle
Kirby Castle, is the first all-
brick building in the county,
the building of which ended in
1484. Manor houses at Groby
and Bradgate followed. In all
instances, the bricks were made
on site by workmen specially
brought in for the purpose. Kirby
was built by Lord Hastings, but
work was brought to an early
close after he was beheaded in
London. The building was never
fully completed, but it is still
one of the finest examples of
medieval brickwork in the whole
of England.
Old bricks were hand-made, and
consequently had irregularities
and variations. They were
mellow in colour, rough in
texture and smaller than modern
bricks. Tremendous quantities
of clay are used in the form of
bricks. Brickmaking materials in
Leicestershire include shales from
the Coal Measures in northwest
Leicestershire. Locally most bricks
are made from Mercia Mudstone
(Keuper Marl), which is a
magnesium-rich clay.
This is ground and mixed with
water and by the addition of
various sands and oxides can be
made into very attractive bricks.
Mercia Mudstone is a reddish
brown Triassic mudstone and
produces bricks that are red
in colour.
Up On The Roof
Swithland Slate
Slate was quarried from the area
around Swithland for hundreds
of years and was used as far back
as Roman times. The local slate
was used extensively, at first
on churches, but later also for
domestic houses. The slate gained
in reputation and was taken
further afield with the coming of
canals. It can be found all over
the Midlands and as far afield as
London. Blue Groby Slate was
also used for the steps of the
Albert Memorial and the roof of St.
Pancras Station Hotel in London.
The most famous use of local
slate was when Groby Grey was
chosen to roof Buckingham
Palace.
Buckingham Palace
After the middle of the nineteenth
century, Swithland Slates were
gradually ousted by the machine
cut, uniformly rectangular
Welsh slates. These increased in
popularity and use and spread
everywhere. This was due to
its low cost and the fact that
Swithland Slate was difficult to
quarry.
Collyweston
In the area surrounding Ketton,
Collyweston Slate is used. It is
usually found as thin slabs on
roofs. In fact Collyweston Slates
are a local limestone which can be
split into thin slabs or slates.
Most of the stone must have come
from the fields around the village
of Collyweston, hence its name. It
has been quarried since the 12th
century.
Splitting the stone was best
achieved by exposing blocks
to natural frosting rather than
physical methods. This was
possible because solid blocks
are crossed by very fine hairline
cracks. The frost opens up the
cracks and allows the stone to be
split into thin sheets. The frost
split slabs were then fashioned
into a wide range of sizes and sold
in the surrounding area.
Fossil Fabulous
In Leicestershire and Rutland some
of the oldest fossils and the most
complete dinosaur in Britain have
been found.
The Rutland Cetiosaurus
The fossilised remains of this
dinosaur were found in a brickpit.
It belonged to the sauropod
group which included the largest
of all dinosaurs such as the
brachiosaurus and aptasaurus.
Amazing Discovery
In 1950 the scientific world was
shaken by the discoveries of a 16
year old school boy. He found a
feather-like fossil in the ancient
rocks of Charnwood Forest whilst
out rock climbing. The fossil called
Charnia masoni after its finder
Roger Mason, is still a mystery to
experts. They cannot work out
exactly what it is, possibilities
include sea fern and jelly fish.
Barrow-upon-Soar Pliosaur
The pliosaur was a marine reptile
with a long neck and grew up
to 12 metres long. A fossilised
pliosaur was found in a lime pit in
Barrow. The village sign now bears
a representation of
the fossil.
Fossils You Are Likely to Find
The discoveries listed above are
very rare but there are many
types of fossils out there waiting
to be discovered. There are lots
of marine fossils from squid-like
creatures such as ammonites and
belemnites or other molluscs like
brachiopods.

An underwater view of Tilton
180 million years ago
Ammonites died out 65 million
years ago after living through the
Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Its closest living relatives are
squids, octopuses and nautilus.
They grew over a metre across in
some cases but are rarely found
to be more than 15cm. They were
once thought to be snakes turned
to stone by St.Hilda.
Belemnites are more closely
related to squid. All that can be
found is the hard bullet shaped
remains of its skeleton. You may
also find Gryphaea commonly
known as devils toe nail and
various other shells and fossilised
wood fragments. Fossils of
mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and
reindeer have also been found in
Leicestershire and Rutland.
Explore and Discover
You do not need to be an expert in
geology to discover and appreciate
the building blocks in your local
area. You probably see locally
distinct building materials every
day, but because they are common
in the area you do not appreciate
their value. Pick out your favourite
buildings and find out more about
them.
However, you dont have to
concentrate on buildings, there are
plenty of other pieces of evidence.
The Hammer & Pincers pub
in Barrow-upon-Soar
Walls, gravestones, village
lock-ups and monuments are all
well worth a look. Road names,
such as Stone Pit Lane, can also
provide clues about past activities.
Old maps of the area can be used
to find the positions of any old
quarries or brick pits. Pubs such as
the Hammer & Pincers in
Barrow-upon-Soar are named
because of the quarrying industry.
Celebrate Your
Distinctiveness
When you have discovered all the
building highlights of your town
or village, you may wish to record
and celebrate the distinctiveness of
your village. There are many ways
you could do this, from descriptive
writing or mapping the village,
to creating a geology trail. You
should work with your skills to
treasure the area where you live.
If you want to record building
stones, let your imagination run
away with you.
Photography is always fun and
an interesting way to record
your special findings. You could
photograph all the locally distinct
houses in the village and make
a scrapbook or collage from
your photographs. If you like
drawing or painting, you could
map out the interesting finds.
Maps can be done in any media,
even embroidery. Old maps can
be used to find the locations of
old quarries. An oral history can
be recorded with the memories
of people who worked in or can
remember the local quarries.
If you discover lots of fascinating
building stones in your town or
village you could design a geology
trail. This has been done in many
towns and villages creating interest
throughout the community. Special
waymarkers can be designed
to show the route, these could
be used in conjunction with
information boards. A leaflet could
also be written and used to point
out the interesting features along
the way. Sculptures in the local
stone could be used to make signs
for the village boundary or a local
exhibition can be organised.
By making other people aware, or
reminding them of the things that
are special in the parish,
it will hopefully encourage them
to protect that distinctiveness from
being destroyed.
Where To Go Next
There are lots of places where
you can go for help and further
inspiration. Our specialist geology
staff at Leicestershire County
Councils Environment and
Heritage Service can offer advice
and answer your queries. Staff
at the Holly Hayes Environment
and Heritage Resources Centre
can provide support and help
you set up projects in order to
protect and improve areas that are
important within the community.
Local projects can be undertaken
by individuals or groups working
on a site or across a parish.
The Initiative can help with all
aspects of your Building Blocks
project and can even provide
advice on grants available to make
your project a success. A visit to
Charnwood Museum might also
assist your project.
For further information contact:
The Community
Heritage Initiative,
Holly Hayes Environment and
Heritage Resources Centre,
216 Birtsall Road,
Birstall,
Leicester
LE4 4DG.
Tel: 0116 267 1377
The organisations listed below JENNINGS, T.
are just a small sample of the The Young Scientist Investigates
hundreds of geology and local
history groups. Your local library Rocks and Soil
is also an excellent source of The Oxford University Press. 1983
information about the area where MAYR, H.
you live. Collins Photoguide to Fossils
A Few Organisations & Clubs PELLANT, C.
The Dinosaur Society Eyewitness Handbook on Rocks
C/O Prof. Richard Moody, and Minerals
21 Victoria Road, Surbiton, Dorling Kindersley
Surrey KT6 4JZ.
SCHUMANN, W.
The Geologists Association Collins Photoguide to Rocks,
Burlington House, Piccadilly, Fossils and Gemstones
London W1J 0DU.
SYMES, R.
The Nationwide Geology Club Eyewitness Guide to Rocks and
C/O 121 Tiverton Road, Minerals
Loughborough, Leicestershire Dorling Kindersley
LE11 2RX.
WALKER, C and WARD, D.
Literary & Philosophical Society Eyewitness Handbook on Fossils
Andrew Swift, Department of Dorling Kindersley
Geology, University of Leicester,
University Road, Leicester. More Advanced Reading
Historic and Natural FORTEY, R.
Environment Team The Hidden Landscape
Community Services, Room 500, of Britain
County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester. Jonathan Cape. 1993
Community Heritage Initiative GARDENER, R and GOULDIE, A.
Holly Hayes Environment and Discovering Landscape in
Heritage Resources Centre, England and Wales
216 Birstall Road, Birstall, Chapman & Hall. 1992
Leicester LE4 4DG.
www.leics.gov.uk/celebrating_wildlife GRAYSON, A.
Rock Solid.
Some Simple Book Natural History Museum
Ideas For Beginners
WEBSTER, D.
The Usborne Nature Trail Book
Understanding Geology
of Rocks and Fossils
Oliver Boyd. 1990
Usborne Books. 1983
FARNDON, J. WHITTOW, J.
How the Earth Works Geology and Scenery in Britain
Dorling Kindersley Chapman & Hall. 1992
 Identification Guide

Oolitic Limestone
These are essentially the chemical remains of the
hard parts of marine creatures.
The rock is made up of large quantities
of rounded grains of calcite.
Yellow or white in colour.

Marlstone
An ironstone from East Leicestershire and
Rutland. They range from fine to coarse grained
and are dark brown due to being composed
of iron rich clay. Often contains fossils which
weather out.

Sandstone
They are literally grains of sand compacted and
cemented together by mineral matter, either
silica or lime.

Swithland Slate
They vary in colour from grey to purple to green
and are easily recognised by their thickness and
characteristic arrangement
on roofing.

Mountsorrel Granite
It is made up of three main minerals, quartz,
feldspar and mica. Mountsorrel Granite is mainly
pink. They have large easily recognisable crystals
and can be found in either its natural rough state
or highly polished.

Building Blocks has been produced with support from the

Heritage Lottery Fund and the
Curry Fund of the Geologists Association.