Church Building Stones

A photo of the outside of St leonards Bengo showing a variety of building stones

St Leonard's, Bengeo

The geology of Hertfordshire is becoming increasingly hidden or inaccessible as quarries get filled in, chalk pits get overgrown and gravel pits flooded. However the investigation of local geology can continue as it is often preserved in the walling stone of medieval churches.

A study of the building stones of our older churches can enable us to build up a reasonable picture of both the solid and drift geology of a parish.

Photgo of the outside of St Mary Magdelen church, Caldecote showing the tower and the north side

St Mary Magdelene, Caldecote

St Mary the Virgin, Monken Hadley

Walling stone is often made up of a collection of ‘field stones’ picked up from the local fields during ploughing and so they can give us an appreciation of the local surface geology.

Two other aspects of the use of stones in churches use different types of rock some local but mostly from remote sources:

Ashlar and Internal Structural Stones (those shaped by a stonemason),

Internal Decorative Stones used for tombs and memorial plaques.

St Faith's, Hexton

The Church Guides page has detailed trails around some individual Hertfordshire churches.

Having read this, if you want to learn more then the best source is the book is “Hertfordshire Geology and Landscape” edited by John Catt – especially pages 307-321 “The building materials of Hertfordshire churches”