This ancient village is built on limestone bedrock bordering the marl fen of Urswick Tarn, a rare marl tarn which provides a completing centre-piece to what was for centuries a harmonious merging of human habitation with an embracing landscape setting.  That harmony was the consequence of the dwellings being constructed from that same local stone, limestone, which is readily seen outcropping within the same field of view that a collective of dwellings is seen when viewed, as in this month's picture, at a distance from the dwellings.  As well as the walls using this local material, the roofs made use of locally sourced slate.  Both of these materials had found their way to this locality as a consequence of the tectonic movement of the Earth's crust over very long periods of geological time.  The covering of the dwellings with highly reflective and attention demanding coatings, processed from materials imported from distal sources, now challenges an objective assessment of harmony between landscape and villagescape.