Following traces of slate use
If we pass through the villages in the territory of the Slate Country, we can observe that slate was not only mined here, but also processed with great skill and popularly used in everyday life, in many ways. The spread and popularity of slate is still documented today by houses with slate walls, roofs, gables and other architectural features. They were all built before the Second World War.
Traditional grey-black board material also appears with brown, red, greenish or black colored admixtures. High-quality roofing slate was particularly sought-after - it could be split into thin boards, weather-resistant and color-fast. This slate can still be found today on dozens of roofs, especially churches, chapels, castles, but also estates, houses and outbuildings. It is a durable material that resists wear and weather conditions well.
The occurrence of high-quality fissile shale deposits is relatively rare, so it is not surprising that the mining and processing of shale was the main livelihood of many generations of miners and craftsmen during its development. To this day, the remains of surface and deep mining, which have long since ended, shape the unmistakable color of the landscape, and the remains of slate elements in the architecture in turn complete the authentic look and genius loci of the local environment. Unfortunately, slate is disappearing from architecture and people's daily life more and more every year.
Basic building material, masonry
In areas with an abundance of slate, it was commonly used for walling the perimeter walls of buildings and other structures or enclosure walls. In the gardens we find low dry walls. Plates of larger slate format have long been used to cover the upper part of the masonry. E.g. at fence walls bordering cemeteries, but also at fences or walls of rural buildings. It was the simplest way to secure masonry against inflow of rainwater and snow.
Roof covering
Slate roofs are characterized by a unique artisanal and artistically impressive laying method. The advantage of this covering is fire resistance, high durability (90-150 years), low absorbency, plasticity and high resistance to demanding climatic influences. Disadvantages include higher weight, financial demands and a high emphasis on proper craftsmanship. Chimneys, attics, towers of churches, chapels and belfries or, for example, often very intricately shaped dormers, are also covered with slate in the upper part of the building.
Slate roofs and other architectural features can still be found in the Slate Country. Unfortunately, the iron nails used in the past corrode quickly and thus have a negative effect on its service life. Therefore, the covering is either replaced with a new one. Slate roofs thus disappear from the territory every year, new ones are more likely to be built on listed buildings.
Paving and stairs
The outdoor and indoor slate paving, which was laid on the floors and stairs of churches, chapels, town houses and country buildings, was also very popular. Pavements, staircases and window sills were paved with slate slabs. Last but not least, solid stone slabs were used to line outdoor staircases. However, there are many examples where durable stone was also used for internal staircases.
Eaves sidewalks, drainage channels
For the exteriors of the immediate surroundings of historical buildings, slate slabs, in larger or smaller formats, were used to lay out gutter walkways near the perimeter walls and channels that drain rainwater to a safe distance from the buildings.
Internal and external windowsills, covering cornices
Slate slabs were also often used to line window sills and cornices. A sloped slab on the exterior of the building with a sufficient overlap ensured convenient drainage of rainwater and protected the masonry from climatic influences. Slate slabs covered the cornice structures and at the same time provided sufficient overlap to support the wooden elements of the roof. The cordon ledges of the gables were covered with scales of a smaller format, usually the same ones from which the roof covering was laid.
Interior and exterior tiling
Slate cladding of internal walls was used rather exceptionally. In contrast, exterior facings, e.g. facades of buildings, have become quite popular. These were clad using scales of slate of a smaller format. In addition to practical protection in environments with adverse climatic conditions, this treatment was a significant aesthetic element. Using different shapes of stencils, a skilled roofer was able to lay out various shapes on the wall using different laying techniques or stencils of different color shades.
Isolation of buildings
Resistant slate was often used in the lower parts of buildings, which were usually heavily stressed by groundwater and humidity. In ground-floor buildings, the masonry of which was made of brick, there is often a solution of horizontal insulation using slabs of slate placed at the height of the terrain. We will also encounter the use of slate as insulation under wooden structures in roofs, instead of the asphalt cardboard used today.
Other uses
Slate was, however, much more widely used. It was used as an insulator in the electrical industry, finely ground slate flour was used in the chemical and rubber industry, children wrote on slate tablets at school, slate boards are part of garden furniture, slate is hidden under the canvas of billiard tables, and slate tombstones are not exceptional either. Small-scale artisans also made jewelry, decorations and ornamental objects from slate. Until the middle of the 20th century, gramophone records were pressed from crushed shale flour bound with slag.
