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Extraction
and use of building stone - sustainibility issues
Materials from England that are
used as building and roofing stone formed in the geological past and are
not renewable. Some occur fairly widely and could potentially be worked
for many years, but others are localised and might become worked out in
the foreseeable future. A strict view of sustainability might suggest that
we should avoid, as far as possible, using non-renewable materials particularly
if these are scarce. But that is too simplistic. We must have suitable
building materials to repair historic structures and for new buildings
that fit with local styles and traditions. Read on > |
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In
2004 the government commisioned Symonds
report identified a number of building and roofing stone supply issues
which needed to be addressed to ensure the correct conservation of historic
buildings and a thriving building stone industry. Action is being
taken on a number of these -
Efforts
to win stone from local sources in England
Obtaining the appropriate stone
for conserving historic buildings can be extremely difficult, but is essential
if repairs are to both perform and weather satisfactorily. Increasingly,
new build projects in historic areas require stone which is compatible
with its neighbours and this usually points to using material from local
quarries. Many of these sources no longer operate and re-opening
them is a fraught process. Nonetheless a number of initiatives are
trying to address the problem. >. |
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Why
use local stone 1.2Mb pdf |
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Sustainable
development is an increasing demand by modern society. It will also
have an increasing impact on the future of the dimension stone industry.
Sustainable development presents an opportunity that the dimension stone
industry must embrace.
This article was first published
in Roc Maquina. It is downloadable
here with permission. |
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Is
it better to use an old building or demolish it and build a new one. It
has been calculated that it will take 30 years before a new energy efficient
building will recoup the embodied energy thrown away by demolishing an
historic one. Embodied energy is a notoriously difficult issue made worse
by product manufacturers claiming the best credentials for their products.
A list of articles linked
from the Institute of Historic Building
Conservation's journal Context
will help you reach your own conclusion. |
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Planning
for the supply of building and roofing stones
Minerals development requires planning
permission from the local Minerals Planning Authority. Proposals for extraction
should normally conform to that Authority's planning policies. A brief
outline of Planning for the Supply of Building and Roofing Stone is provided
here by the Planning Officers
Society for information. >
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Definitive guidance should be sought
in national
minerals planning guidance and policy statements (external link). |
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How
small is a small quarry?
Minerals Policy Statement 1 (MPS1)
“Planning and minerals” refers to building stone quarries in terms of small
and large scale operations. However it does not provide definitions of
these, leaving that to the discretion of individual Mineral Planning Authorities.
> |
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Obtaining
stone for roof conservation
Can’t they find a quarry somewhere
more suitable, like an industrial estate in the Midlands? This suggestion
was made by an objector to a proposal to re-open a quarry which had supplied
the raw materials for hundreds of historic buildings in the south west
and for which no other source was available. These sentiments are
regularly expressed whenever a quarry is proposed, regardless of its size,
purpose or intended duration. Clearly the notion that any similar
stone will do instead is not one that accords with those who are trying
to conserve historic buildings. > |
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The
intrinsic value of building stone Terry Hughes
The English Heritage pilot
study into the historic use of building stones and the need for particular
stones for repair and to conserve the built heritage has raised the issue
of how to determine the relative value of individual stones. This value
derives from a number of intrinsic factors which will each provide a level
of importance against which the stone could be assessed. Aggregating these
levels for a particular stone will make it possible to rank its value in
relation to other stones using a subjective grade similar to the listing
grades of buildings. >. |
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British
Geological Survey Guide to Mineral Safeguarding in England pdf file
Minerals can
only be worked where they occur so with increased pressure on land use
in the UK we must ensured that they are not needlessly sterilised by other
development. Safeguarding encopasses the processes and mechanisms necessary
to ensure that outcome. >. |
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English
Heritage Stone Study
English Heritage is organising a
series of regional meetings to discuss the feasibility of a project to
gather and publish existing information on English building stones and
the buildings in which they have been used. >. |
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English
Heritage Minerals Policy
A guide to the English Heritage
position on mineral extraction, high level policy documents and the winning,
working and safeguarding of minerals. View it here
(pdf file) or order a copy from English Heritage Customer Services 0870
333 1181 or email
ask for product code 51396 |
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Some
stone articles in Building
Conservation Directory
The
search for stone. Graham Lott
Rock
of ages. Ewan Hyslop and Graham Lott
New
stone for old. Jamie Vans
Building
stones of the British isles. Frank G Dimes
Shining
stones.pdf Graham Lott and David Smith
Testing
roofing slates. Terry Hughes
Stone
replacement. Malcolm Coulson
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