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	Setts & Cubes: Introduction

Intro  - Terminology  - Uses&Apps Types  - Finishes  - Colours Coverage Fan Pattern Bogens Pros and Cons Prices Diagram

Introduction Laying Rigid Constr Flexible Constr Jointing   York Stone Cobbles

 

Introduction
Terminology Cubes and setts, cobbles and cobblestones. The terms seem to be interchangeable, depending on your location. The terms refer to blocks of natural stone, hewn from a quarry, in a range of sizes and rock types, and "cobbles" or "cobblestones" is also the name given to large, rounded beach pebbles 200-400mm in size, which are sometimes called 'Duckstones'. These rounded 'cobbles' are discussed on a separate page. The general public tend to refer to the gritstone 'Hovis Loaf' type as Cobbles, although the correct term is 'Setts' - these range from 100x100mm to 200x250mm in size, and have an average depth of 150-200mm.
Whether they are cobbles, cubes or setts, they are excellent paving products and will last for many, many years; in fact, some of the stones currently covering the streets of Britain have seen over 200 years of continual use. Their pedigree as a paving unit goes back to the Romans, 2000 years ago, and beyond, and they are characteristic of most of the so-called 'historic' towns and cities of Britain and Ireland. They are fast becoming an essential ingredient in the nostalgia business, as the fashionable designers and developers fondly remember their long-lost days of childhood, sitting on a kerb-stone, twirling sun-softened pitch onto lolly sticks in the streets of post-war Britain.
Uses and applications
New Tumbled Setts laid to a driveway	Nowadays, new setts are produced to regular dimensions in a wide variety of finishes, and are laid in the same manner as modern concrete block paving. The reclaimed stones can be difficult to lay, mostly because of their inherent randomness, but whether new or reclaimed, when they have been laid correctly, they are a beautiful sight, and make superb paths, patios and driveways, as well as visually stunning areas of civic paving. As with many other small element paving units, they offer superb possibilities for design. Their natural colouring, which will not fade as some concrete dyes do, and the range of textured finishes bring an extra dimension to paving design, whether it be the re-creation of traditional cobbled streets or an unique and original design for a public area.

Setts are popular for the creation of impressive large-scale patterns in civic paving schemes, such as the popular European Fan Pattern and these magnificent guillauche swirls outside St. Georges' Hall on Lime Street, in Liverpool. A centre-stone cut from a yorkstone flag is surrounded by 10 courses of granite cubes, then 2 soldier courses of grey-black basalt setts edge a figure-of-eight pattern laid in blue-black long setts. The pattern is bounded by a double channel course of the dark blue-black long setts, and infill paving is done in the lighter-coloured granite cubes. Overall, the pattern is approximately 6 metres in width. What other paving material could give such a stunning look?

Guillauche setts in Liverpool

Types There are two main types of rock used for the production of setts; sedimentary and igneous. Sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone or siltstone, are relatively easier to cut and shape. Igneous setts, such as basalts and granites, are usually much harder.
Sedimentary setts are still quarried from the Pennine gritstones of Northern England, although more and more hand-hewn setts are being imported from foreign climes, particularly southern Asia, where labour costs are much lower. Many of the UK-produced sedimentary setts are sawn from quarried rock, and may be further processed. This has enabled the development of modular sett paving, which is discussed below.	Hand-hewn setts and cubes
Igneous rock types are particularly popular for cubes, although setts are often hewn from granites, basalts and gabbros. Many of the reclaimed igneous setts and cubes are of UK origin, notably the granites of Cumbria, Cornwall and Scotland, but more and more of the new materials are imported from other countries. Igneous rock tends to be denser than sedimentary rock, and its crystalline nature of makes it much harder to cut with hand tools than most of the sedimentary types. It will rapidly abrade standard blades on power saws, and so, if it must be cut with a saw, a diamond blade is strongly recommended. However, the dead straight lines created by power sawing looks awry with the natural finish of these units, so we often 'fettle' a sawn edge (ie, nobble with a hammer) to give it a more natural, hewn appearance.

Finishes Some of the popular 'finishes' for new sedimentary setts are depicted below. Reclaimed sedimentary setts, if they have a discernable finish left on their upper surface, tend to have the picked and punched finishes more commonly associated with igneous-sourced setts - see below.
Tumbled Setts	Cropped Setts	Sawn Setts	Rustic Setts

The smaller stones, are usually, but not exclusively, granite or basalt, and are often referred to as "cubes". These are more or less regularly sized, usually 100x100x100mm or 125x125x125mm. These igneous rocks are much harder than the sedimentary types, and there are some stunning colours available, including pinks, reds, greens and blues. Although they may be available in sawn, cropped or honed finishes to special order, both new and reclaimed igneous setts are usually finished to one of the Classes given in BS435:1975 Specification for dressed natural stone kerbs, channels, quadrants and setts, namely.... Fine Picked - also known as 'Bush Hammered'; fairly smooth, good non-slip surface Fair Picked - moderately smooth; less worked than fine picked Rough Punched - self-explanatory! Roughly hewn with high spots chiselled off The picked finishes tend to be used for pedestrian areas and the rough punched finish for deterrent areas, rumble strips and low-speed traffic areas.
Fine Picked	Fair Picked	Rough Punched

Colour There is a phenomenol range of colours available, virtually any colour you can imagine, butfinding it can be quite a task. In the UK, dark black, blue-balck and green-black basalts are fairly common, as are the speckled white, silver grey and red-pink granites. Other colours may be imported or specific to a particular region. If you are looking for a particular colour to use on your poroject, contact the suppliers listed on the links page and ask for details of their colour range - not all suppliers will stock all colours. Note - the names used for the colours illustrated below have been created by ajmc&s for our own use- many suppliers use their own colour names, some of which defy logic, but that's the way it is!.
White	Speckled White	Mid Grey	Dark Grey	Black Grey
Silver grey	Dark Brown	Speckled Buff	Blue-Black	Black
Shap Pink	Dark Red	Red-Brown	Old Gold	Black Green

Coverage Coverage rates are quite variable, given the random nature of the stone used for setts and cubes, but for guidance only....

Type of Stone Dimensions (L x W x D) m² per Tonne Single edging (Lin m) Approx nr per T Granite cubes 50x50x50mm 9.0m² 150m 2,800 80x80x80mm 5.7m² 63m 700 100x100x100mm 4.5m² 40m 350 150x150x150mm 3.0m² 18m 100 Granite setts 100x100x50mm 8.8m² 75m 680 200x75x150mm 3.9m² 35m 165 200x150x100mm 2.9m² 26m 120 300x100x200mm 2.0m² 19m 62 Gritstone setts 150x125x100mm 4.8m² 32m 110 200x150x150mm 3.2m² 19m 70 275x100x200mm 2.4m² 20m 75

Patterns Although it is possible to lay setts and cubes in almost any configuration or design, there are three patterns that are seen time and time again for sett work; these are coursed, random and the european fan pattern. See the Laying Pages for details on different laying techniques.
Coursed This is without doubt the most popular pattern and much of the 18th and 19th century sett work laid to the streets and squares of towns and cities is laid to this pattern. It's the traditional 'cobbled streets' pattern, with the courses running at 90° to the direction of traffic (transverse), and it often features a longitudinal (running in same direction as traffic flow) channel at each edge, as shown in the photograph opposite.
Setts laid in courses	A coursed pattern is very simple to lay. The newly-quarried and sawn stone sett paving now widely available, is cut to accurate rectangles and is ideally suited to being laid in courses. Reclaimed setts and hand-hewn materials are much more irregular and so need to be laid to a taut string line to ensure the courses remain parallel and true to level. Coursework looks even better when cambered.
With coursework, it's important that the vertical joints are staggered, whether the setts are new and butt-jointed or reclaimed and mortar/pitch jointed. Different sett widths help to create a more random and natural appearance to the work. New setts, such as those shown opposite, are supplied in standard widths, but reclaimed materials often have to be sorted into compatible widths before laying each course, which adds to the labour costs.

 

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Random Unlike the straight 'rows' of a coursed pattern, a random pattern is basically a jumble of stones positioned wherever they will fit. This method of laying was typically used only on low status work, such as industrial yards, stables, haul roads and other places where the presence of a hard surface was far more important than appearance, and/or where the budget was tight. Often, areas paved in a random pattern utilised the poorer quality setts, the rejects and odd sizes from a prestige job nearby or even reclaimed materials that was considered worn.	Low quality work roughly coursed
The same rules for layout creation given on the Random Pattern page apply to setts as well as flags; running joints should be kept to a minimum (around 600-900mm ideally, with setts) and the corners of 4 setts should never meet at a single point. It can be a bit of a brain-teaser working out which stone will fit where, and the end results can look somewhat higgledy-piggledy, especially as the jointing tends to vary between butt-jointed (ie, setts in direct contact with immediate neighbours) to wide joints of 75mm or so. The joint width is a good indicator of the quality of workmanship used to lay the paving - the wider the joints, the poorer the job.	Setts laid in random pattern
European Fan Pattern This pattern, also known as radial-sett paving, Bogens, Belgian pattern or Florentine pattern amongst others, is the most complicated pattern to set out, and only really works with cubes or setts of smaller plan dimensions. However, it is such a visually pleasing layout that it's easy to see just why it has been so popular for so long. It is, apparently, a frequently used pattern in Europe and is a fairly common choice of pattern for Pattern Imprinted Concrete, although it looks far better in the natural materials than in coloured concrete.
Ideally, it needs a large area to do it full justice, and should be at least 3 metres wide when used as a driveway, otherwise the pattern becomes 'lost'. However, the smaller setts, such as the 100x100mm and smaller units, give excellent results over comparatively small areas. Fans laid in contrasting colours, eg a silver-grey granite and a black basalt, can look stunning when given the space for the pattern and colour to be appreciated.
The setting-out pattern reproduced below can be adapted for most square paving units, including block paving and flags, as well as setts and cubes. If the paving unit is 'n' mm in width, then the radius, r, should equal 10n. This 'rule of thumb' may need tweaking for smaller units such as the 60x60mm clay cobbles, and will involves joint trimming for larger units, where wedge-shaped units may be required near the point of origin for each fan.
Setting out for a European Fan pattern

 

Bogens and Fans It's worth noting that there is often some confusion in Britain and ireland regarding these "arc" patterns. The layout shown above is a fan: there are a number of repeating 'shapes' that interlock and cover a larger area. However, on the continent, one of the nore popular layouts is the "bogen" or "segmental arc", which is often mistaken for a fan but is actually a series of stacked arcs. Bogen layout is complex and requires the skills of a skilled artisan as the setts at the ends of the arcs, where one arc meets its neighbour, need to be somewhat smaller than those in the centre of each arc. Traditionally, Bogens are incredibly strong layouts as the arcs work to dissipate forces over a much larger area. Their development and use reached a peak when horse-drawn traffic dominated the streets, but since the advent of modern vehicles, their use has been gradually demoted to one of aesthetics.

Fan layout - note individual, repeating fans

Bogens - a series of stacked and interlocking arcs

Pros and Cons
The 'domed' surface of the "Hovis-loaf" type reclaimed setts can be awkward to walk on, especially in high-heeled shoes (or so I'm told!) The irregular nature of the surface can also make access difficult for hand-pushed garden tools suchs as non-pneumatic tyred wheelbarrows, and lawnmowers. Even relatively flat-topped setts can be difficult to traverse if the jointing is recessed, but the newer sawn setts have wonderfully smooth and level faces, and being laid butt-jointed as is concrete block paving, they present no hazard whatsoever, regardless of which footwear one is wearing.
Properly constructed sett paving is more or less completely impermeable and therefore must be adequately drained to gullies or other suitable drainage points. Once complete, it should require no maintenance other than the occasional sweep with a broom to remove accumulated dust etc. Relatively expensive - see price guide below. When laid well, or when laid to a fan pattern, they can look stunning. All too often the reclaimed or hand-hewn setts are laid slap-dash and then have plain 'white' mortar slapped all over them as an attempt at pointing. Time consuming and labour intensive....not to be undertaken by the faint hearted. If you are employing a paving company to lay reclaimed or hand-hewn setts for you, insist on seeing some previous work in the same materials; the skills required in laying irregular setts are not the same skills used with block paving or the regular-dimensioned sawn setts.
For an easier and cheaper alternative to cobbles and setts, take a look at some of the concrete sett blocks now available from the top manufacturers and described more fully in the relevant section of this site. There is a wide range available, including flat, tumbled blocks, domed-top blocks, textured surface blocks and some pretty disgusting and unconvincing 'copies'. As all these blocks can be screed bedded and sand jointed, the labour is significantly reduced and therefore they are considerably cheaper than either reclaimed or new stone.	Concrete Sett Paving

Prices
They can be quite expensive, especially the 'newly quarried' stones, although the new, thinner setts specifically sawn for residential projects do help keep the cost to an acceptable level. Prices for new materials range between £30 and £120 per square metre, depending on thickness, type of stone, finish and quantity. Reclaimed ("second-hand") granite setts can command a price of £120 per tonne (equivalent to around £25-30 per square metre), while gritstone setts are cheaper, starting at around £40 per tonne (£12.50 per m²). The prices for reclaimed materials is highly variable, with significantly higher prices being charged in the SE of England.	Tumbled Setts by Marshalls Ltd.
There is massive variation in prices charged for the actual laying of sett work. Some of this is because of the wide range of prices quoted for different materials, and some is because of the high level of workmanship required to achieve the best results. Butt-jointed new sett work is much quicker to lay and consequently costs less in labour per unit area than the individually laid hewn setts or cubes, which take almost as long to joint and seal as they do to lay. See the sett construction page for more information. Below, we give a range of guide prices for typical jobs, comprising a 30m² path/patio, a 50m² driveway and a 100m² carriageway. The prices allow for skips/wagons to remove excavated material and waste, sub-base if required, stones as described, and suitable bedding/jointing. Also included is all necessary labour and tool hire, plus VAT. The figures refer to the rate per square metre for supply and fix.

Construction class Type of surfacing Path/Patio 30 m² Driveway 50 m² Carriageway 100 m² Rigid 100x100 cubes £81.90 £89.84 £102.07 150x150 cubes £87.60 £95.54 £108.38   Rigid 75x200 setts £73.05 £80.99 £90.92 100x250 setts £72.40 £80.34 £90.14   Flexible 75mm sawn setts £97.74 £97.74 £102.67 Concrete block £53.89 £53.89 £56.18

Click here to read notes on the specification used when compiling the above prices.

Construction Diagram See the Laying Setts page for fuller construction details

Typical construction for reclaimed or irregular setts

Thanks to Iain Kennedy at George Farrar (Quarries) Ltd. and Marshalls Ltd for their invaluable assistance in the creation of this page.

Other sett paving resources... Introduction Laying Methods Rigid Construction Flexible Construction Jointing Methods