Slate - Examples of Use 

Slate for everything 

Well almost. There is evidence that the Ancient Egyptians placed disks of slate in the mouths of mummies. It has been used in Wales since the Iron Age and Romans times for general household purposes. Implements made of slate belonging to the Iron Age and Roman occupation have been discovered not only as spindle whorls but also as bake stones. Prior to around 1780, when iron bake stones became available, a 3 cm thick type of brown bread was baked on them known as bara llech or slate bread. Slate was also used in the nineteenth century as decoration inside cottages. Other uses are for billiard and snooker tables as slate will not distort with heat, and since it withstands acid, it was used as laboratory bench tops and for brewing containers. And not forgetting of course as doorposts, lintels, steps, fencing water tanks as well as writing slates for schools.