Abstract
Chingford Stables in Dunedin, New Zealand was constructed in 1880 and is the only remaining building of the former Chingford Estate. In 2020 Chingford Stables was re-roofed because of decay of the roof slate. The question arose as to whether the pre-2020 slate had been obtained from a local North Otago quarry, which was active when the stables were built, or from Wales like many nineteenth-century New Zealand roofs of the time. Rb and Sr isotopic analysis of a Chingford slate sample was used to answer this question. On an (87)Rb/(86)Sr vs. (87)Sr/(86)Sr diagram, the Chingford slate clearly lies on 430-400 Ma Welsh slate isochron lines and is distinctly more radiogenic (older) than 250-170 Ma Otago Schist isochrons. The Chingford Stables roof slate did therefore not have a local provenance.