The Origins Of Slate Roofing

Slate Roofing began in 1283, After Slate was used to roof the eight towers of Conwy Castle it gained popularity among the nobility. Slate also began to be used for churches and monasteries across england and wales.

As time passed the size and influence of the welsh slate quarries grew, in the late 1700′s Welsh slate quarries were exporting over 450,000 tons of slate. Most of the Slate exported from wales was used for Slate Roofing or flooring.

Across the Pond in the USA the first solid record of slate roofing being introduced is in 1654 in boston, although in jamestown virginia archeological excavations have discovered roofing slate in strata dating as far back as 1625.

During America’s colonial period nearly all examples of slate roofing appears to have been imported from the slate quarries of north wales. Seventeenth Century Building Ordinances in both New York and Boston Massachusetts recommended using Slate Roofing or Tile Roofing to Help Prevent Fire Damage. Because of Roofing Slate’s Legendary Fire Resistance this makes very good sense. the First Roofing Slate Quarry in america was opened in 1785 in Peach Bottom Township, Pennsylvania.

When the Roofing Slate Quarries of Vermont Opened up in the mid 1840s the biggest obstacle to getting quality roofing slate to the rest of the united states was transportation.

Along Came the Industrial Revolution, and with innovation in both slate roofing tile transportation and slate mining, suddenly slate roofing became much more affordable, this influx of affordable slate roofing stones meant Across Britain and america more and more homes received slate roofing from the slate quarries in North Wales.

A Lot of the roofing slate that originally traveled along those railroads still adorns houses across america and britain to this day, a silent monument to the Enduring nature of Stone.