Clunch

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Flint (dark) and "Clunch" (light) create a checkerboard effect on a wall in the side chapel of St Michael's Church , Mickleham (Surrey) .

Clunch ( ˈklənch, ˈklu̇n-, / klʌn (t) ʃ / ) is the name of a limestone that is traditionally used as a building material in eastern England and Normandy . In contrast to other limestones, Clunch is softer to cut and is reminiscent of chalk or clay- like rocks. The term is often used for similar rocks or softer aggregates.

properties

Clunch are limestone from the Cretaceous period , around 145–66 million years ago. It is a soft, gray-white to light beige stone, often with a green cast. The discoloration is due to an admixture of glauconite , which is also often found in Kentish Ragstone . Occasionally it is interspersed with Ironstone . The stone has a coarse-grained structure due to the large number of fossils. The eponymous stone has been quarried in Totternhoe Quarry in Dunstable , Bedfordshire since 1920. The most important quarry belongs to the company HG Clarke & Son . The stones from the quarries, in particular, are extremely soft and extremely susceptible to erosion by wind or chemical attack when they are built into exposed masonry . In the softer state, they can be cut with a saw, especially if they still contain a lot of water after the break. As soon as the stone dries out, it becomes a little harder.

use

Clunch is used in different forms, be it as reading stones on the edges of fields, or as cut stone blocks from different quarries. Most often it is used with mortar to build walls. It is particularly widespread in parts of East Anglia and there especially in and around Thetford . Today it is mainly used for border walls and agricultural buildings.

It was also used on some interior walls in Ely Cathedral and can be found on buildings in Seale , Surrey and Farnham parishes . In nearby Burwell , the local community magazine was named after the building material.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Clunch at Merriam-Webster.com;
    Oxforddictionaries.com
  2. ^ Cambridgeshire Clunch. Projects.bre.co.uk, accessed June 20, 2013 .
  3. ^ HG Clarke and Son
  4. ^ Gone for Clunch. BBC, June 29, 2006, accessed June 20, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Burwell Parish magazine. Burwell.co.uk, accessed June 20, 2013 .