It used to be said that the streets of London were paved with gold - and so they were, if gold is quarried in Yorkshire and the northern districts. Yorkstone is the heavy black stone that paves London and most of our cities. Yorkstone is a sedimentary rock made up of quartz, mica and feldspar all glued together with native bonding agents like silica, clay and iron oxides. Yorkstone has been one of the primary building materials in England for centuries. It has been used to build mills, homes, municipal buildings and roads, and the beautiful stone has stood the test of time and weather over the years.
These days, yorkstone paving is as popular as ever in both new construction and restoration. The quarries are still being worked to provide new yorkstone, but a great deal of the yorkstone paving that's on the market today has been reclaimed from old roads and mills. The historic stone is as versatile, useful and beautiful now as it was then.
The color of yorkstone depends on the quarries from which it was mined. Depending on the exact makeup of the sediments and 'glue', it may be black, gray, brown, reddish or even green. Newly quarried yorkstone is usually available as slabs, setts and cobbles of varying widths and depths to suit any construction projects. Reclaimed yorkstone paving is more often found in odd shapes and broken bits - what paving workers call 'assorted rubble'. Those bits are most often used in 'crazy paving'- an alternative to rectangular or patterned paving.
Yorkstone is versatile enough to be used for flagstone patios or steps, either in slabs or setts. Yorkstone setts, cobbles and slabs can be combined into stunning patterns that range from highly structured stone circles to intricately pieced checkerboards and mosaics. Crazy paving is one of the most popular ways of using broken, reclaimed yorkstone. Crazy paving most likely takes its name from the pattern - or lack of one - that the broken yorkstone forms when its laid and mortared in place - akin to a crazy quilt - but there are those who hold that the name comes because it's a 'crazy way to lay stone', or because anyone would be crazy to think that it's an easy way to make a patio. Any paver will tell you that while the broken stone used in crazy paving costs less, a crazy paved patio or walkway is an intense labor of love and frustration.
Unlike laying a coursed path, where all the yorkstone paving stones are approximately the same thickness and in even sizes, crazy paving uses whatever stone is available. It means that the paver - you, if you've decided to do it yourself - must first sort the pieces by approximate size and shape, and then begin to lay the stones in a pattern, making sure that the pieces of yorkstone paving meet as closely as possible. Imagine doing a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that weigh up to a hundred pounds or more.
Yorkstone paving is available from many manufacturers and agents. It's a durable and beautiful stone that has stood the test of English weather for centuries, and will stand it for years to come in your garden or patio.