Hornton ironstone at Broughton

Reading about Hornton stone, the stone used at Broughton.

It is from Hornton village about 6 miles away just up by Edgehill and the Warwickshire border.

Alec Clifton-Taylor in his 1972 "The Pattern of English Building" writes of it thus

"This beautiful stone, understandably beloved of sculptors as well as formerly for building, is unusual, inasmuch as deep brown, tawny yellow, greenish and greyish-blue tints can be combined within a single block."

He goes on ...

"Only six or seven miles away from Hornton is Broughton Castle, one of the most lovable country houses in England, and almost without peer for the subtle beauty of its colour. The gabled walls are a mixture of grey and gold, grey-green and golden-green, and almost everything in between! Lichens add, here and there a gently mottled texture which is quite inimitable." Hornton is a Liassic ironstone. "All ironstones darken on exposure to the weather, since the particles of iron are soon oxidised to produce rust; this often yields richly satisfying hues."

Here is a 'richly satisfying hue' in the mirrored picture above. I took it on a simple little camera one evening in February last year from the park.

and just for comparison, a couple of showing how dramatically the stone changes - first on a grey autumn day, and then on a bright mid-summer's day.