Wallington Hall forum 1 room
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Wallington Hall

Wallington stone

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(a) because I have never seen a stone weathered into that shape. The natural inclination for sandstone left upright would be to slump, to become lower and more rounded, rather than hard-edged and angular. There are so many of these decorations on the tops of vertical stones - there's a family of them around Hob's stone in Wallington for contextual continuity - and add Duddo and one of the Devil's Arrows. It's a long list - of course they're carved ...

(b) Yes, I began FOLD!! with a couple of piles of stone and an odd dream - I had to demolish a tumbledown stone bothy on the way - and it took many years occasional work. It was a little like that film by Herzog which starred Klaus Ninski ! (It looks worse close up). I hope to make a little one nearby in August. They can all be seen from Hanging Shaw, Knarsdale, preferably with a strong telescope. That whatshisname based his Cumbrian whatsitcalled on my work at the Knar.

(c) It was Katherine Hepburn that said 'Never explain, never complain'. But where's Hallington Hall ?

Thats interesting and is something that I often think about, trouble is you see examples of it in country rocks too. I'm sure that in some cases natural channels caused by chemical & physical erosion may have been accentuated but I'm not sure wether this is always the case.
As you know yourself, if the mason selects the wrong stone or presents the wrong face to the weather then erosion will be inevitable - because Mr Newton proved it so.
If there are 'a family' of stones in a locality that display similar features, could that not indicate that this particular type of stone weathers in a certain way. I think proof of carving would be if stones of the same compositon in the same locality, with the same orientation i.e. bedding plans and stuff, did not show such markings.

Would that be Mr Goldsworthy? I do like his work, his Cumbrian pinfolds and stuff are beautiful but I don't think you can take all the credit after all stone walling has been around for quite some time.
If you want to see a truely Fitzcarraldian wall, check out the wall that runs up the easterly side of High Cup Nick, that builder must have really loved his art, or maybe hated his neighbour.

I have a study on Stone walling by Raymond Hayes that I think you'd enjoy. I'll send it to you when I leave the sea of nog