Galleting, sometimes known as garreting or garneting, is an architectural technique in which spalls (small pieces of stone) are pushed into wet mortar joints during the construction of a masonry building. The term comes from the French word galet, which means "pebble." In general, the word "galleting" refers to the practice while the word "gallet" refers to the spall. Galleting was mostly used in England, where it was common in South East England and the county of Norfolk. Description Galleting is mainly used in stone masonry buildings constructed out of sandstone or flint. The technique varies depending on which of these materials is used. In sandstone buildings, the spalls are often a different type of sandstone than the one used in the wall, though sometimes they are pieces of the same stone. For example, carstone, also known as ironstone, is a type of sandstone that is commonly used for galleting. In sandstone buildings, the spalls are usually shaped into small cubes about half an inch in diameter and are flush with the stone. In flint buildings, the edges of thin slivers of flint are commonly pushed into the mortar, so that the surface of the wall is uneven and the edges of the flint spalls jut out from the wall. In some cases, these techniques are combined such that flint walls are galleted with sandstone spalls or vice versa, however it is uncommon. Although it is also uncommon, galleting has been used in brick masonry construction, where sandstone spalls are generally used over flint ones. More eclectic materials used as gallets include brick, tile, beach pebbles, glass, and oyster shells. In higher status buildings, galleting was superseded by square knapping the flints to produce flat, squared stones that produced a surface with little exposed mortar. It is unclear whether galleting performs a practical, structural function or is an aesthetic application. It is possible that galleting is used when the local stone is not an easily worked freestone, which means that the stone is more irregular and therefore requires thick mortar joints. In this case, gallets would serve as wedges to provide structural support to the stone and would shield the mortar from weather. It is also possible that galleting does not reinforce the mortar and was used purely for aesthetic reasons. Scholarship has also suggested that galleting was neither a structural nor an aesthetic practice, but rather a superstitious one