Editing Clunch

{{short description|Traditional building material of chalky limestone rock}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2016}}
[[File:St Michael's Church, Old London Road, Mickleham (NHLE Code 1028835) (Chequerboard Wall of Side Chapel).JPG|thumb|right|[[Flint]] and the pale stone, '''clunch''' used together in a [[checkerboard pattern]] on the wall of the side chapel at St Michael's Church, [[Mickleham, Surrey]].]]
'''Clunch''' is a traditional [[building material]] of chalky [[limestone]] [[rock (geology)|rock]] used mainly in eastern England and [[Normandy]]. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, and may resemble [[chalk]] in lower density, or with minor [[clay]]-like components.

==Use==
Clunch has been used in a wide variety of shapes such as irregular lumps picked from the topsoil of certain fields, or more commonly blocks [[quarry|quarried]] by being cut from the bedrock in regular-shaped ([[ashlar]]) building blocks.  If in the first form it can be bedded in a ramshackle manner (as [[rubble masonry]]); if in the second then laid in [[course (architecture)|courses]].  In either case, [[mortar (masonry)|mortar]] is often used between stones to form [[wall]]s.

==Properties==
The stone is a chalk from the Lower Chalk of the [[Cretaceous]] age, the period of geological time approximately 145–66 million years ago.  It is greyish-white to light beige in colour, often with a greenish tinge. The latter is caused by the presence of glauconite, the potassium and iron aluminium silicate mineral that is also found in [[Kentish Ragstone]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://projects.bre.co.uk/ConDiv/stonelist/camclunch.html |title=Cambridgeshire Clunch |publisher=Projects.bre.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2013-06-20}}</ref> The stone has a gritty texture because of the frequent presence of shell fossils. This stone has been quarried at Totternhoe Quarry in [[Dunstable]], [[Bedfordshire]], by H. G. Clarke & Son since 1920.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clunch.co.uk |title=Clunch: traditional English chalk stone|publisher=H. G. Clarke and Son |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606055550/http://www.clunch.co.uk/ |archive-date=6 June 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

It is particularly soft when quarried and subject to chemical and wind [[erosion]] as exposed material, i.e. when [[Cement render|unrendered in paint, stucco or cement]]. It can be cut by a saw when in its softer state; when it has been quarried out of the ground it still contains a large amount of water.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/06/29/goneforclunch_feature.shtml |title=Gone for Clunch |publisher=BBC |date=2006-06-29 |accessdate=2013-06-20}}</ref> When the stone dries out it becomes harder, and is not as easy to cut.

Clunch is generically a soft [[limestone]]. It can be [[ironstone|rich in iron-bearing clays]] or be very fine and white &ndash; in effect just chalk. It is used in various parts of [[East Anglia]], where more durable stone is uncommon, and can be seen frequently in and around [[Thetford]] &ndash; 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 [[agriculture|agricultural]] buildings.

In [[Ely Cathedral]] it can be seen in some interior locations. The nearby village of [[Burwell, Cambridgeshire|Burwell]] has its [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] magazine named after the building material.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.burwell.co.uk/clunch/index.asp |title=Burwell Parish magazine |publisher=Burwell.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2013-06-20}}</ref> It is found in the village of [[Seale, Surrey|Seale]] in Surrey and in [[Farnham]].<ref>[http://www.guildford.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6F4B8926-BFDF-485F-A933-FA38D2D8E56C/0/AdvisoryLeaflet9RepairandmaintenanceofStoneBuildingsPart1.pdf Guildford Borough Council Advisory Leaflet]{{dead link|date=June 2013}}</ref>

==Inferior meaning==
The term has been sometimes used more generically, in other parts of England for any soft and aggregate-based vernacular building stone that has been used as a cheaper, inferior substitute for stronger stone.

==See also==
*{{annotated link|Bath stone}}
*{{annotated link|Caen stone}}
*{{annotated link|Bargate stone}}
*{{annotated link|Portland stone}}
*{{annotated link|Limestone}}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Limestone]]
[[Category:Building stone]]