TALE OF TWO STONES
St Elli's is the oldest church in Llanelli, built in the 12th century on the site of a 5th century cell, itself built on the site of a pagan shrine. There is a Norman tower and 15th century chancel, with ancient yews in churchyard.
Some time in the 5th or 6th century a monastery was founded at what is now Llanelli, on a spot that had been used for pagan worship. The monastic site would have had a church of timber, but in the 12th century this was rebuilt in stone, forming the basis of the St Elli's we see today.
The War Memorial and the Lych Gate
The oldest part of the current building is the 12th century tower, while the chancel dates to the 15th century. The building was heavily restored in the Victorian period, and again in 1906. The busy street around the church has been pedestrianised in very recent times.
THIS EARTHCACHE FOCUSES ON NEWER ADDITIONS ON THE SITE AND CONSIDERS THE IMPACT OF THE 20th / 21st CENTURIES.
In particular this EarthCache looks at stone decay and impact of society on the stones.
Stone surfaces may be used to “read” background environmental changes, trends in pollution, and sometimes even catastrophic events, such as fire.
Most importantly these surfaces may inform us about human interactions with stone which seem to have intensified through history and affected the nature of the weathering.
People choose natural stone for buildings to be aesthetically pleasing AND durable. From the very beginning of civilization, important structures and monuments were either built from or were principally based on natural stone.
You can see the use of mostly local stone here in church itself. However there are prestige pieces or decorative items that use “imported “ stones to stand out.
No stone type can be considered everlasting and most of the stone varieties are affected by a polluted atmosphere.The durability of natural stone reflects its ability to withstand the external pressures leading to the deterioration of the physical properties, partial decomposition and physical breakdown. The durability is proportional to the period during which the stone can preserve its properties, both physical and aesthetical. The resistance of natural stone to weathering action is a function of:
- internal parameters of the rock which encompass mineralogical and chemical composition, rock fabric (understood as spatial arrangement of rock-forming minerals and pore space).
- external factors that can generally be described as the environmental conditions to which the stone is exposed (climatic conditions, composition of atmosphere including presence of pollutants, presence of water, biospheric influence and/or interaction between stone piece and other materials present in the construction).
The weathering of landforms and buiding stones is the natural process of rocks and minerals breaking down or dissolving,driven by factors like water, ice, temperature changes, wind, plants, and animals. This breakdown, known as in situ weathering, is distinct from erosion, which involves the movement of these broken-down materials. The main types are physical weathering (mechanical breaking), chemical weathering (chemical decomposition).
Physical Weathering
This process breaks rocks into smaller pieces without changing their chemical composition.
- Freeze-Thaw: Water gets into cracks, freezes, expands, and widens the cracks, eventually breaking the rock apart.
- Temperature Changes: Repeated heating and cooling of rocks, especially in hot deserts, causes them to expand and contract, leading to cracking and breaking.
- Pressure Release: As rock is exposed by erosion, pressure on underlying rocks decreases, causing expansion and cracking parallel to the surface.
Chemical Weathering
This involves the chemical alteration of rocks and minerals.
- Acid Rain: Rainwater, especially acidic rain from fossil fuel combustion, can dissolve and alter the rock's minerals.
- Water: Water itself is a powerful agent, with water molecules reacting with and breaking down minerals in rocks.
- Oxidation: Oxygen in the air reacts
COMPARE THE TWO TYPES OF STONE PLACED CLOSE TOGETHER "RECENTLY" - ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST CENTURY. LOOK AT THE MEMORIAL AND THE RED STONE PANELS IN THE LYCH GATE
LOCATION ONE
Llanelli Church War Memorial is situated in the churchyard of St Elli's (Ellyw's) Church facing south over Bridge Street. The memorial, dates to around 1920. It is in the form of a Celtic cross, constructed of granite. The cross has interlace decoration and a battered base
Granite is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is a very porous stone that absorbs water and other liquids like a sponge. So without the protective seal, it quickly absorbs water and becomes stained.
Granite weathers more slowly because it is an igneous rock with an interlocking crystal structure that is harder and more resistant. The dense structure provides greater durability against weathering agents over time, though it is still susceptible to chemical weathering.
About ten metres away is:-
LOCATION TWO
The lych gate (or lychgate) is a traditional, roofed gateway at the entrance to a churchyard or graveyard, originally designed to provide shelter for the coffin and mourners before a burial, as a temporary resting place for the body. The word "lych" comes from the Old English word for "corpse".
This example is dated around 1911. This ornate stone and timber lych-gate is situated in the south-west corner of the churchyard of St Ellyw's Church. The lych gate has a steep, bell-cast, hipped, plain-tiled roof with a lead ridge and a wooden cross finial. It has battered base walls to each side, constructed of rock-faced rubble with red sandstone ashlar, quoins and coping. The north side has a carved stone with an inscription dated 1911.
Red sandstone is a durable, iron-oxide rich sedimentary rock, known for its reddish color, small rounded grains, and occasional cross-bedding, and is used in building, decorative landscaping, and as a source of groundwater. In the UK, Old Red Sandstone formed in the Devonian period. It can be found nearby on the Gower Peninsula
Sandstone is a softer sedimentary rock composed of loose grains of sand cemented together. While sandstone's porosity and weaker cement can make it vulnerable to water and freeze-thaw damage.
LOGGING REQUIREMENT.
- WHAT DIFFERENCES CAN YOU ACTUALLY SEE BETWEEN THE WAR MEMORIAL STONE AND THE CARVED RED STONE PANEL INSIDE THE LYCH GATE?
- REGARDING WEATHERING ON THE GRANITE MEMORIAL , THE LEAD LETTERS WERE LEVEL WITH THE ROCK SURFACE WHEN NEW. SO IN JUST OVER 100 YEARS HOW MUCH DO THE LETTERS PROTRUDE? (THIS EQUALS THE AMOUNT OF STONE LOST?
- LOOK THE CAPPING STONES AND THE CARVED STONE PANEL (1911) WITHIN THE LYCHGATE. EVEN THOUGH THE STONEWORK IS MOSTLY COVERED, WHAT’S HAPPENED?
- GIVEN THE TIME FRAME HERE WHAT CHANGES IN SOCIETY MIGHT HAVE CAUSED THIS WEATHERING? IDENTIFY THE MOST LIKELY PROCESS
- WHICH STONE HAS BEEN WEATHERED MORE? SUGGEST A REASON
- Take a photo of yourself or a personal item looking towards the church tower (include this in your log)
Then feel free to log this EarthCache as you send your response to the questions above. You will receive 'feedback' quickly.
You need to submit answers INDIVIDUALLY. Group responses will not be accepted.
Please don’t include the answers in your log even in an encrypted form.
Complete responses to the logging tasks are required including a photo in your log.
TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS IF YOU WANT, BUT PLEASE DO NOT POST PHOTOS THAT SPOIL THE GAME !
☆☆☆ FTF honours to ____sniffadogz_____ ☆☆☆
