# Rag-stone

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{{Short description|Work done with stones that are quarried in thin pieces}}
{{Redirect|Ragstone|the racehorse|Ragstone (horse)|the type of limestone from Kent|Kentish ragstone}}
[[File:Ragstone_outcrop%2C_Dryhill_Nature_Reserve%2C_Kent_-_geograph.org.uk_-_168246.jpg|thumb|Natural ragstone outcrop in [Dryhill Nature Reserve](/source/Dryhill_Nature_Reserve) near [Sevenoaks](/source/Sevenoaks), Kent]]
[[File:Ponders_End_-_Church_of_St_Matthew_-_geograph.org.uk_-_681164.jpg|thumb|Church made from ragstone in [Ponders End](/source/Ponders_End), [Enfield, London](/source/Enfield%2C_London)]]

'''Rag-stone''' is a name given by some [architectural](/source/architectural) writers to work done with [stone](/source/Rock_(geology))s that are [quarried](/source/quarried) in thin pieces, such as [Horsham Stone](/source/Horsham_Stone), [sandstone](/source/sandstone), [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire) stone, and the [slate](/source/slate) stones, but this is more properly flag or slab work. Near London, "rag-stone" often means [Kentish ragstone](/source/Kentish_ragstone), a material from the neighbourhood of [Maidstone](/source/Maidstone). 

Rag-stone is peculiarly suited for [medieval](/source/medieval) work.{{cn|date=November 2021}} It is often laid as uncoursed work, or random work, sometimes as random coursed work and sometimes as regular [ashlar](/source/ashlar). Ragstone, a dull grey stone, is still quarried on an industrial scale close to the [Kent Downs AONB](/source/Kent_Downs_AONB). It has traditionally been used within the AONB as a road stone, cobble or sett and a walling block. Although difficult to 'dress' with a regular face, it has been used as rectangular blocks for the construction of walls and buildings and was very popular for the construction of 19th-century churches. More frequently, owing to the difficult and variable nature of the stone, it is seen as irregular and self-faced irregular blocks in walling. Due to its irregular shape, as with flint, ragstone has been set within brick [quoins](/source/quoin_(architecture)) and bands. Spalls, fist-sized irregular chips of ragstone, have been used to surface paths but modern usage of ragstone is as a general construction aggregate, including fill for [gabions](/source/gabions) and loose or partly binding gravels.

==See also==
* [Kentish ragstone](/source/Kentish_ragstone), a popular type with an extensive article
* {{Annotated link|List of types of limestone}}

==References==
* {{1911|wstitle=Rag-stone|volume=22|page=815}}

Category:Building stone

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