And leadworking was one of our most important crafts in the late middle ages, largely because we have (had) an abundance of the metal in the British Isles. Unfortunately we lost a lot of the decorative work in churches, and the roofs of religious houses, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries – people associate this mostly with window-smashing etc but lead was one of the most valuable things to strip. Now sadly there are few experts in lead which can be a problem in the maintenance of historic buildings. /historical geekery