Historic building stones and their distribution in the churches and chapels of West Sussex, England

Normandy chalkstone (France): geology and historical uses from quarries to monuments

“…Nevertheless, chalkstone use as building stone was quite significant in Normandy compared to other regions of the NW European Chalk Basin. In England, six chalkstones (named Totternhoe, Beer, Lavant, Chalk Freestone, Top Calcrete, Brighstone) were employed in cathedrals, abbeys, priory, castles and other constructions (Bone and Bone, 2000;Dusar et al, 2011;Lott, 2011;Bone, 2016), while the French cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais, St-Omer and Troyes were edified in chalk (e.g., Lafrance et al, 2016). In the meantime, Avendersteen and Lézennes from Hainault and Flanders counties in northern France was also exported to Belgium and Holland mainly for sculpturing (Tolboom et al, 2009(Tolboom et al, , 2010 and Vylen chalkstone for vernacular use was quarried in the Belgian/Dutch border area near Maastricht (Dreesen and Dusar, 2004;Dusar et al, 2009;De Kock et al, 2015).…”

“…However, several chalk layers were suitable to be widely quarried for building stone used in cathedrals, churches, abbeys, bridges, castles and defensive walls as well as dwellings, mills, stables and other constructions since ancient times (e.g. Turcanu-Carutiu and Ion, 2014;Bone, 2016).…”

Sourcing of chalkstone used in medieval buildings in the Eastern Duchy of Normandy (10th−14th centuries) through geological and geochemistry analyses

“…These transformations affected the territorial organization of countries and regions, including the diffusion zones of historical quarrying areas at a local, regional or interregional scale (D. A. Bone, 2016; Picavet et al, 2018). Diffusion zones of building stones are defined by the location of their corresponding historical constructions and quarrying areas, revealing commercial activity (Kloppmann et al, 2017), stonemasonry workshops (Lozić, 2009) and communication routes (Santi et al, 2015).…”

“…The size of these diffusion zones depends on the sociopolitical situation (e.g., political stability and administrative boundaries), as well as the geographic settings (e.g., relief configuration and presence of fluvial corridors) and the availability of adequate geological materials (e.g., D. A. Bone, 2016; Reniere et al, 2016; Storemyr & Heldal, 2017; Turmel et al, 2014).…”

Upper Cretaceous Limestones as Stone Resources for the Monuments of Oviedo (Asturias, NW of Spain): Petrographic Variability and Stratigraphic Origin

“…Stone material undergoes alteration processes when exposed to the elements (Martínez-Martínez et al 2017;Damas Mollá et al 2018;Sitzia et al 2021), and if the damage is significant, the stone must be replaced to prevent further deterioration and the ruin of the building. In these cases, it is convenient to know the origin of the material: the geographical and geological location of the lithotypes, the exact formations, or even outcrops of origin (Fronteau et al 2010;Bone 2016;Carter et al 2017;Ajanaf et al 2020). This information will make it possible to locate a stone that is similar to the original in characteristics and properties and, so, in behavior (Bugini and Folli 2008;De Kock et al 2015;Zoghlami et al 2017;Anania et al 2012;Forestieria and Álvarez de Buergo 2019), and to find the most suitable material to replace ashlars or other construction elements in heritage restoration works.…”