- Purbeck Marble
Purbeck Marble is a
fossil iferouslimestone quarried in theIsle of Purbeck , apeninsula in south-eastDorset , England.It is one of many kinds of Purbeck Limestone, deposited in the lateJurassic or earlyCretaceous periods.Purbeck Marble is not ametamorphic rock like a truemarble , but like true marble it can take a fine polish.Its characteristic appearance comes from densely-packed shells of the freshwater snail "Viviparus ", [Arkell, W. J. (1947), "Geology of the country round Weymouth, Swanage, Corfe Castle and Lulworth". London: HMSO for British Geological Survey.] [Clements, R. G. (1993), "Type-section of the Purbeck Limestone Group, Durlston Bay, Swanage, Dorset", "Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society", 114, 181–206.] which are also seen inSussex Marble (also known as Petworth Marble or Winklestone) with generally larger Winkles of the same species.In seams of the stone, which lie between layers of softer marine clays and mudstone, laid down in repeated
marine ingression s, mineral impurities give some Purbeck Marble fine red and green varieties.During the
Romano-British period, Purbeck Marble was used forinscriptions , architecturalmouldings andveneers , mortars and pestles, and other articles. [Beavis, John (1971), "The use of Purbeck Marble in Roman Britain", "Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society", 92, 181–204.]Purbeck Marble was also quarried in medieval times and can be seen in virtually all the cathedrals of the south of England, in columns and slab panels and flooring. [Leach, Rosemary (1978), "An investigation into the use of Purbeck marble in medieval England", 2nd edition. Crediton: the author.]
It has been less used in modern times, but a remarkable example isthe church at
Kingston, Purbeck, Dorset built in 1874–1880. [ [http://people.bath.ac.uk/lismd/dorset/churches/kingston.html Kingston (St James) Church] ]Though other
strata of Purbeck Limestone are being quarried at the present time (2008), there are no active quarries in the Purbeck Marble.However Purbeck Marble is required from time to time for restoration work, and some was extracted in 1993. [Haysom, Treleven (1998), "Extracting Purbeck Marble", "Hatcher Review", 5(45), 48–54.]Purbeck Marble is used by a number of contemporary sculptors and examples of
sculpture can be seen at thebiennial Asthall Manor exhibition of stone sculpture.References
External links
* [http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/ Geology of the Wessex Coast]
* [http://langtonia.org.uk/ Langton Matravers Local History and Preservation Society, including Museum of the Purbeck stone industry]
* [http://www.pmmmg.org Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum]
* [http://www.palmyra.uklinux.net/pur-preface.html Roman Purbeck Stone]
* [http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/education.faqs.php Salisbury Cathedral]
* [http://www.purbeckstone.co.uk/samples.htm W J Haysom and Son and Lander's Quarries]
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