Natural Building Stone
Broadhayes faced flint stone (also known as chert) from our land in Devon is a ready to lay, beautiful natural building stone ideal for general walling, facing buildings, landscaping, flooring and many other building projects. We supply our stone all over the UK.
See the Other Applications page for more ideas and inspiration for ways our natural building stone can be used.
Flint stone naturally comes in all shapes and sizes which often means a lot of waste. When we sort through the stones, if a stone has a good natural face it is left as it is, to fit into one of our 3 size specifications. If this isn’t the case we will split the stone. Whole field flints together with split faces creates a pleasingly random patterned face to builds.
We endeavour to ensure that there is at least one face on every stone (if it has a natural face and it’s of good enough quality we will leave it, if not we will split one) and that it’ll fit in to the specified bed depth.
Our aim is to eliminate the waste which is inherent in flint. Due to its very nature, flint stone comes in all shapes, sizes and colours. We therefore cannot accept responsibility for the shapes of the stones behind the face and the fact that sizes and colours will vary. Our natural building stone requires laying alongside stones which compliment and fit against each other and may also need filling at the back.
Please note that the split side of the stone may not always be the intended face. It may have been split in order to fit within the specified bed depth or to tidy up the stone.
Broadhayes natural building stone is a facing stone/cladding and is not structural. It therefore needs to be laid against backing blocks or other suitable cavity systems.
Due to the nature of building with flint stone the height achievable per day will be limited.
Because our product is natural and the shapes, sizes and colour vary every build is as unique as the stones themselves.
The Process
Most of our customers presume that we are a quarry but this is not the case! We pick the natural building stone from the fields using specialist machinery, it is then graded, washed, split (if required), bagged and weighed prior to being delivered or collected. This process allows builders and stone masons to get on with what their good at – laying the stone and not sorting through it as we have already done that for them! Saving you time and money on laying costs.
We supply a choice of three main sizes in order to suit the needs of your individual project. We can supply any quantity that you require and are flexible to suit your needs. Should you require anything out of the ordinary, please ask us as we are likely to be able to help or do you a special order.
Click here to see our standard sizes.
The Science Bit!
Flint is a dense, fine-grained stone; a form of silica, it naturally occurs in the form of nodules; usually grey and brown in colour, but nodules and other chunks tend to weather white or light shades from the surface inwards. It is also known as Chert and naturally comes in many varied shapes and sizes. The exact formation of flint is not yet clear but it is thought that it occurs as a result of chemical changes in compressed sedimentary rock formations.
Certain types of flint, such as that from the south coast of England, contains trapped fossilised marine flora. Pieces of coral and vegetation have been found preserved inside the natural building stone; this adds interest, character and texture to builds.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint for more information
