Clunch
Encyclopedia
Clunch is a term for traditional building material
used mainly in eastern England
and Normandy
. It is a term which encompasses a wide variety of materials, often locally variable.
It often comes as irregular lumps of rock
either picked up from the fields, or quarried
and hewn from the ground in more regular-shaped building blocks. It is predominantly chalk
/clay
based and is bedded in mortar
to form wall
s. It is a particularly soft building material. Some people comment that it could be cut by a saw.
The stone is a chalk from the Lower Chalk of the Cretaceous age, the period of geological time approximately 143-65 million years ago. It is a greyish white colour often with a greenish tinge. The latter is due to the presence of glauconite, the potassium and iron aluminium silicate mineral also found in Kentish Ragstone. The stone has a gritty texture due to the frequent presence of shell fossils.
It is often a very soft limestone
. It can be rich in iron-bearing clays or be very fine and white — in effect just chalk. It is used in various parts of East Anglia
, where more durable stone is uncommon, and can be seen quite a lot in and around Thetford
— mostly now for property boundary walls as it is not a long-lasting material, but it is also used for some building walls, especially in traditional agricultural
buildings. In Ely Cathedral
it can be seen in some interior locations. The nearby village of Burwell
has a Parish magazine named after the building material. It is found in the village of Seale
in Surrey and in Farnham
.
The term is sometimes used more generically in other parts of England
for any soft and aggregate-based vernacular building material which is used as a poor substitute for stone.
Building material
Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, sand, wood and rocks, even twigs and leaves have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more...
used mainly in eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. It is a term which encompasses a wide variety of materials, often locally variable.
It often comes as irregular lumps of rock
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
either picked up from the fields, or quarried
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
and hewn from the ground in more regular-shaped building blocks. It is predominantly chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
/clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
based and is bedded in mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
to form wall
Wall
A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air...
s. It is a particularly soft building material. Some people comment that it could be cut by a saw.
The stone is a chalk from the Lower Chalk of the Cretaceous age, the period of geological time approximately 143-65 million years ago. It is a greyish white colour often with a greenish tinge. The latter is due to the presence of glauconite, the potassium and iron aluminium silicate mineral also found in Kentish Ragstone. The stone has a gritty texture due to the frequent presence of shell fossils.
It is often a very soft limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. It can be rich in iron-bearing clays or be very fine and white — in effect just chalk. It is used in various parts of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, where more durable stone is uncommon, and can be seen quite a lot in and around Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
— mostly now for property boundary walls as it is not a long-lasting material, but it is also used for some building walls, especially in traditional agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
buildings. In Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
it can be seen in some interior locations. The nearby village of Burwell
Burwell, Cambridgeshire
Burwell is a large fen-edge village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, about 10 miles north east of Cambridge. It is situated on the south-eastern edge of The Fens, a large area of relatively flat former marshland which lies close to sea level and covers the majority of Cambridgeshire...
has a Parish magazine named after the building material. It is found in the village of Seale
Seale, Surrey
Seale is a village in Surrey, England forming part of the civil parish of Seale and Sands. It is located at on the south side of the Hog's Back between Farnham and Guildford and is part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It also lies on the Pilgrims' Way. The parish covers...
in Surrey and in Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
.
The term is sometimes used more generically in other parts of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for any soft and aggregate-based vernacular building material which is used as a poor substitute for stone.