Purbeck Stone and Purbeck Stone Roofs (Part 2)

Corfe Castle: southerly view down West Street.

A row of Purbeck stone buildings on a moody, misty morning after light rainfall. Without sunshine to bring it to life, the stone looks sombre and the stone roofs assume the colour of slate.

When newly quarried, Purbeck stone has a bright cream colour. As the stone dries out and ages, the colour gradually darkens. The lower section of the house to the extreme right of the photo has recently been rebuilt; you can tell this from the light colour of the stone. Look closer and you will see that the house also has new windows and new lintels.

The roofs

A description in Alec Clifton-Taylor's book "The Pattern of English Building" explains:

"Of the many kinds of stone slates obtained from the rocks of the Jurassic formation, those from the Isle of Purbeck are the most durable of any, and the heaviest. A Purbeck slate roof weighs no less than one and a quarter tons to every hundred square feet. Such roofs can look splendid, but they impose structural problems.... Needless to say, it is the weight of these stones which has produced the sagging so characteristic of Purbeck roofs."

I would add that the houses shown in this photo are narrow by comparison with many of Purbeck's farmhouses and barns. The relative closeness of the gables which help to support these roofs must reduce the sagging effect; even so, it is likely that at least some of these roofs will have needed to be strengthened at some time.


I have defaced the estate agents' signs a little, to render them illegible and keep the viewer's attention on the street scene. The pub sign, on the other hand, is a permanent fixture.