Flagstone

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Portage Park in Chicago
is known for its flagstone decorations.

Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat

facades and other construction. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab or chip.[1]

House on Westray, Orkney, with flagstone roof

Flagstone is a

buff
, though exotic colors exist.

Flagstone is quarried in places with bedded sedimentary rocks with fissile bedding planes.

Flagstones of various sizes. University of Bergamo, Italy.

Around the thirteenth century, the ceilings, walls and floors in European architecture became more ornate. Anglo-Saxons in particular used flagstones as flooring materials in the interior rooms of castles and other structures.[2] Lindisfarne Castle in England and Muchalls Castle (14th century) in Scotland are among many examples of buildings with surviving flagstone floors.

Flagstone shingles are a traditional roofing material, and are a type of roof shingle commonly used in the Alps, where they are laid dry – often held in place with pegs or hooks. In the Aosta Valley, Italy, buildings in historical areas are required to be covered in stone shingles.

See also

References

  1. ^ Etymology of Flag
  2. ^ Williams, Henry Smith (1910). A history of science, Volume 9, p. 154. Harper Brothers, New York and London.