Ledger stone

Neave illustrates another ledger slab of this type of 1718 in Holy Trinity Church, Hull, and indicates that other examples exist in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

These marbles are found over a large area of central Belgium and normally have white inclusions and fossils in them, but there is also the Nero Belgio which is almost jet black in appearance and come from quarries that are still operating at Golzinne and Mazy.

[6] It is noticeable that an almost jet black marble, similar to Nero Belgio occurs as ledger slabs in the latter part of the 18th and early 19th centuries, an example being Dean Kaye's memorial in Lincoln Cathedral.

Many other black ledger stones of the 17th to 19th centuries have white flecking, which may also suggest that they come from Belgian sources.

This would account for their prevalence in Kent and East Anglia, for the transport of these heavy stones would be easier and cheaper".

The matrix is made up of the shells of freshwater gastropods and viviparus winkles,[9] similar to but larger than those making Purbeck Marble.

There are a number of fonts made from this material and it was also used for ledger slabs in the medieval period and as a matrix stone for monumental brasses.

An exceptional example of an alabaster ledger slab is that of Richard and Isabel Tresham in Geddington Church in Northamptonshire dated 1433.

[11] Swithland slate was widely used for ledger and gravestones in many areas of the East Midlands from the mid-18th century until the 1890s when the last quarries closed.

Examples of ledger stones range from the aristocracy, country gentry, the professions, clergy to merchants and tradesmen.

Ledger stones with engraved or relief figures of the deceased are not very common in the UK, but are more widely used in Germanic and Scandinavian countries.

Because they are floor coverings, ledger stones are vulnerable to wear from foot traffic and damage from structural alterations to churches.