Natural patterns and textures of Devonian sedimentary rocks (often covered with lichens) used in the building stonework for an ancient archaeological site called the Broch of Gurness in Orkney.
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Jessica's Nature Blog 
Stone textures make for such artistic photos ☺️ x
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I love the combination of man made ordering and the splotchy surfaces of the rocks.
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Thank you, Bythebrooke. I do love capturing these natural textures.
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Thanks, Claudia. I have noticed so many old buildings made of interesting and colourful rocks – but in later centuries a great deal of effort was expended on covering up the natural stone with plaster, lime wash, paintings, panelling, or tapestries.
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Here we have a local stone that many older buildings are constructed from, Wissahickon schist, and then there are other ones that were constructed with “junk” stones not meant to be seen but stuccoed or the like. Our climate does not lead to the same kind of lichens as other places, but we do get them, and moss, and I love how the stone gets a look to it from them. As an aside, I made concrete statues for a while maybe ten years ago, which have been in my yard, and weathered so nicely, with black and green lichens on them.
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How amazing! I’d love to see this place for myself. Some of those textures look like blood vessels in the skin. Love all the lichens as well.
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Thank you, Jo. I am sure that is just the sort of place that you would really enjoy to photograph and write about.
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“Wissahickon schist” – what a great name! Lichens not only grow on the surface of rocks but can be endolithic, penetrating the surface and helping to break it down – given enough time.
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Yes, Wissahickon is a Lenape word and appears in many local place names in my near neighborhood. And I like the way it sounds! On the other subject, I like the idea of a slow-moving but stubborn lichen.
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It is interesting to learn of the origin of the word – and I had never heard of the Lenape people before. Thank you, Claudia.
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You are welcome. I enjoy how the names of rock types and levels and so on reflect the history of an area.
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Quite apart from the site itself, some of those lichen textures are extraordinary when zoomed!
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Thank you, RH. There were a lot of lichens on the rocks in Orkney – some really spectacular. In close up they can be beautiful and strangely alien.
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