Smaller Format Paving (Setts / Cobbles)

As previously mentioned on this website, natural stone setts and cobbles are predominantly granite and other hard types of stone, which therefore includes setts produced from slate, basalt, gneiss, quartzite and limestone. Historically these have been used all around the UK for public and commercial areas of hard landscaping in one form or another now, as the wearing course for surfacing our town centres and market squares, as well as the roads and pavements in and around them, since before Roman times.

Historically these have been used 'as found' with water rounded cobble stones, generally with a variable thickness of 200mm to 300mm, or even more, according to local availability and use. The quarried, cut and dressed (hand finished or machine tumbled to take off sharp edges and projections etc.), natural stone setts were and are generally more uniform, cut to around 200mm thick for roads and town squares, with others to around 100mm thick for pedestrian only areas and pavements etc.

As always the substructure design and compaction must be suitable for the anticipated load and overall exposure e.g. generally in accordance with BS 5750, plus the most suitable jointing / pointing material also being selected to suit this exposure e.g. the structural performance taking into account the environmental conditions during the installation and curing.