Inside The Cornish Slate Quarry That Supplies Britain's Best Roofs

The guys at Trevillett Quarry show how local Cornish slate is quarried, split, graded, and prepared for roofing, and why skilled hands still matter just as much as modern machinery. From geology and grain to thickness control and sizing standards, this is a proper look at what separates good slate from bad — and why roofs only look right when the material is right. If you care about traditional materials, long-lasting roofs, or sourcing stone closer to site, this one’s worth your time. _______________________ Key takeaways • Local sourcing isn’t a compromise — it’s often a quality upgrade • Modern machinery helps, but slate quality is still decided by human skill • Hand splitting matters because slate has natural grain, faults, and variation • Becoming a competent slate splitter takes around five years • Deeper slate is cleaner, harder, and more consistent than near-surface stone • Visual grain (“heads and tails”) is a critical quality indicator • Thickness consistency matters as much as size for a good-looking roof • Roofers rely on grading to avoid shadowing and uneven courses • Slate sizes follow clear rules (length ≈ 2× width, minimum widths enforced) • Chambered top edges help roofers orient and lay slates correctly • Reject slate isn’t wasted — it’s reused, repurposed, or crushed as aggregate • Traditional material knowledge still underpins modern roofing standards _______________________ #SlateRoofing #TraditionalBuilding #RoofingSkills #NaturalStone #BuildingMaterials #Quarrying #HeritageConstruction #UKBuilding #Roofing #StoneWork ================================== 👇 SUPPORT SB - BECOME A MEMBER    / @skillbuilder   📪 JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER http://skill-builder.uk/signup 🛒 SEE OUR FAVOURITES ON AMAZON https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/skillbu... 🎧 LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST https://blubrry.com/skillbuilder/subs... 🎬 OUR VIDEO LIBRARY    / @skillbuilder   🔗 SEE EVERYTHING SB ON LINKTREE https://linktr.ee/skillbuilder   / skillbuilderchannel     / skillbuilder     / skill_builder   (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases) ================================== OUR FAVOURITE CHARITIES 👷 BAND OF BUILDERS https://bandofbuilders.org ⛯ THE LIGHTHOUSE CHARITY https://lighthousecharity.org 💧 CHARITY WATER https://www.charitywater.org