What type of rock is this?

[Curlymam88]

Does anyone know what type of rock this is please? I have a load in my garden as a stone feature. Located uk, wales

It looks like lava rock - is it fairly light for its size? Either that or it could be industrial slag from (for instance) an old ironworks.

You can buy lumps of lava rock from aquatics shops for putting in fish tanks.

A porous one.

@BeNiceWhenItsFinished yes it is quite light not heavy at all. I googled the image and read lava rock but there's loads here and no volcanoes here.

Well there’s no volcanoes now…

you said it was part of a feature so someone bought a load of it at some point? Therefore with could have come from anywhere.

Did the previous people that lived there have a rockery ?

If it’s really light it could just be a dirty piece of aerated concrete

This is the stone type of feature it came from.

Looks like lava rock but might be tufa?

Probably previous owners bought in rocks for a rockery. Like we now buy in shingle or pebbles - not naturally found in the local environment.

I feel that it's not shop bought. More found in the garden when previous owners cleared up the garden. Apparently garden was a right mess a few years back.
Tufa? I've never heard of that. I'll have a google at that. Thank you

Both lava rock and tufa are used by gardeners and landscapers for rockeries. Being porous, they are lightweight so cheap to transport, hold water, and plants can grow roots through them.

It could be slag? Waste material from furnaces. It it magnetic?

Thanks for the replies everyone. No it's not magnetic. Just been out with a magnet to check.

Isn't it called pumice? The only place I have encountered it naturally was on Tenerife, when we took a trip up Mount Teide - a volcano.

Yes I'm thinking it's more volcanic rock.
Ive never really paid much attention to it before, but I think its pretty cool that rock from a volcano is in my garden in Wales 😆

That is cool. This might blow your mind

https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=cei-balast-artificial-island-porthmadog

There are extrusive (magma which came out of the ground) igneous rocks found in several parts of Wales. Most of the igneous rock cooled underground though. This looks like basalt to me, the bubbles form when it comes out of the ground and the gases expand and bubble out of it, like a shaken up bottle of coke. Take a look at the map.

@lcakethereforeIam @WonderingWanda wow, that's cool. I never knew this. I've learnt some new stuff today 😄

So are you in one of those areas with the extrusive igneous rock (the light orange)?

Is it Jesus? Or Tintin?

Looks like Dwayne Johnson imo....

@GrumpyDullard oh no I'm more of the grey area at the bottom of the map. South Wales. But I still found the map interesting 😆

@Curlymam88 Still cool, though.

It could be very eroded limestone..it kind of dissolves in the rain, and there are limestone deposits in Wales

Oooh, that man is sexy. Especially in Hobbs and Shaw... <misses point of thread.>

The Rock 🪨 😁 Bravo!