South Kensington Living
Roofs
Slates
In Georgian England, slate replaced tiles as the preferred roof covering. Its structure meant that it could easily be split into thin sheets. Most of the slate for house building was brought from quarries in Wales. Welsh slate was even exported in large quantities for houses in the United States. After a sheet was split from the rock face, it would be cropped to the correct size and shape or “dressed”. The slates were nailed to the wooden supports of the roof. Each slate would be laid slightly overlapping the one below and the nails would go through both.
Finials
Victorian houses were built with decorative terracotta finials fitted along the top of the roof line.
Chimneys
London chimneys came in all shapes and sizes and are usually constructed of brick. The Victorians often made feature of them, and designed them to look like castle towers. The chimney pots themselves were bedded in mortar known as flaunching.
