Bath Stone is anooliticlimestone comprising granular fragments ofcalcium carbonate originally obtained from theMiddle Jurassic agedGreat Oolite Group of theCombe Down and Bathampton Down Mines underCombe Down,Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives theWorld Heritage City ofBath, England, its distinctive appearance. An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is a 'freestone', so-called because it can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such asslate, which form distinct layers.
Bath Stone has been used extensively as a building material throughout southern England, for churches, houses, and public buildings such as railway stations.
Some quarries are still in use, but the majority have been converted to other purposes or are being filled in.
Bath Stone is anooliticlimestone comprising granular fragments ofcalcium carbonate laid down during theJurassic Period (195 to 135 million years ago) when the region that is now Bath was under a shallow sea. Layers ofmarine sediment were deposited, and individual spherical grains were coated withlime as they rolled around the sea bed, forming theBathonian Series of rocks. Under the microscope, these grains orooliths (egg stones) aresedimentary rock formed fromooids: spherical grains composed of concentric layers. That name derives from theHellenic wordòoion foregg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm.Rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are calledpisolites. They frequently contain minute fragments of shell or rock, and sometimes even decayed skeletons of marine life. Bath Stone was taken from the Bath Oolite Member and the Combe Down Member of the Chalfield Oolite Formation, part of theGreat Oolite Group.[1]
An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is afreestone, one that can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such asslate, which have distinct layers. In the Roman and medieval periods, Bath Stone was extensively used on domestic and ecclesiastical buildings, as well as civil engineering projects such as bridges.[2]
TheRoyal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, which was founded in 1738, was designed byJohn Wood the Elder and built with Bath Stone.[3] There is a finepediment on the building, again in Bath Stone, which depicts the parable of thegood Samaritan.
St Stephen’s Church on Lansdown Hill, Bath, was constructed from a limestone sourced from theLimpley Stoke mine, south of the city.[4]
The material has also been used widely outside Bath itself.Claverton Pumping Station atClaverton, which was built of Bath Stone in about 1810, pumps water from theRiver Avon to theKennet and Avon Canal, using power from the flow of the River Avon.[5] The stone was also used for theDundas Aqueduct, which is 150 yards (137.2 m) long, and has three arches built of Bath Stone, withDoric pilasters, and balustrades at each end.[6]
Much ofBristol Cathedral was built of Bath Stone, and the Wills Tower, which is the dominant feature of theWills Memorial Building, is constructed inreinforced concrete faced with Bath and Clipsham stone.[7] Bristol'sCabot Tower was also faced with Bath Stone.Arno's Court Triumphal Arch was built from Bath Stone in about 1760, and was later dismantled before being rebuilt in its current location.
Bath Stone was also favoured by architectHans Price, who designed much of 19th-centuryWeston-super-Mare. InBarnstaple, the 1855 construction of Butchers Row used Bath Stone.
In London, the neo-classicalGeorgian mansionLancaster House was built from Bath Stone in 1825 for theDuke of York and Albany, the second son ofKing George III, as wereSt Luke's Church, Chelsea, in 1824, and several other churches includingChurch of Christ the King, Bloomsbury.Apsley House, the town house of the Dukes of Wellington, was remodelled by the 1st Duke in Bath Stone cladding over the original red brick.
InReading, the original building of theRoyal Berkshire Hospital of 1839, together with the wings added in the 1860s, are built of Bath Stone, with slate roofs.[8] They are nowlisted grade II* byEnglish Heritage. In 1860, the nearbyReading railway station, incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed by the Great Western Railway using Bath Stone, and the company also used it forChippenham station.
Other mansions which have used Bath Stone includeGatcombe Park,Goldney Hall,Tyntesfield,South Hill Park, andSpetchley Park.
In 2002 the East End ofTruro Cathedral was completely renovated and restored with some of the ornate Bath Stone replaced with harder-wearing Syreford stone. In 2005 the west front was restored similarly.
Bath stone was mined underground atCombe Down and Bathampton Down Mines,[9] in Somerset; and as a result of cutting theBox Tunnel, at various locations inWiltshire, includingBox andCorsham.[10]
In the early 18th century,Ralph Allen promoted the use of the stone in Bath itself, and demonstrated its potential by using it for his own mansion atPrior Park. Following a failed bid to supply stone to buildings in London, Allen wanted a building which would show off the properties of Bath Stone as a building material.[11] He acquired the stone quarries at Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines.[12] Hitherto, the quarry masons had always hewn stone roughly providing blocks of varying size. Wood required stone blocks to be cut with crisp, clean edges for his distinctive classical façades.[13] The distinctive honey-coloured Bath Stone was used to build the Georgian city. Stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined, leaving pillars of stone to support the roof.[14][15] Allen built a railway line from his mine onCombe Down which carried the stone down the hill, now known as Ralph Allen Drive, which runs beside Prior Park, to a wharf he constructed atBath Locks on theKennet and Avon Canal to transport stone to London.[16]
In the 18th century mines at Budbury nearBradford on Avon andCorsham the mines were developed by the Methuen and Northey families. The mine atMonkton Farleigh was leased to quarrymen by theDiocese of Salisbury.[17]
Underground extraction of Bath Stone continues in the Corsham area but on a smaller scale than previously. For example, Hanson Bath & Portland Stone, part of theHeidelbergCement Group, operatesHartham Park Underground Quarry in the Hudswell district (southwest of Pickwick). The Bath Stone Group operates the Stoke Hill mine.
TheBox Mine consists of a network of tunnels, which originate from stone mining work. Stone extraction started during theRoman occupation of Britain and ceased in 1968. The mine is now popular for recreational underground trips, and is home to a large population ofbats. Up to 10% of the total British population ofgreater horseshoe bat uses the mine at times, and a maximum of 230 individuals of the species have been counted at the site. TheLesser Horseshoe Bat also uses the mine, as do the fourMyotis species:Whiskered,Brandt's,Natterer's andDaubenton's bats.[18]
Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines date from the 17th and 18th century when stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined, leaving pillars of stone between them to support the roof.[15] The mine contains a range of mine features including well preservedtramways, cart-roads and crane bases. The walls and pillars of the mine are studded withpick and tool marks, and show evidence of the use of huge stone saws, all of which bear testimony to the variety of techniques used to extract the stone over the mine's three hundred-year history.[19] No mine abandonment plans of either the tunnels or the caverns, known as voids, were made prior to the 1872 Mining Act.[15] Following their closure, the mines were used for a variety of purposes, including amushroom farm, and as anair-raid shelter during theWorld War IIBaedeker raids on Bath.[19]
During the 1930s there was a recognition of a need to provide secure storage for munitions in the south of the United Kingdom, and a large area of the quarries around the Corsham area was renovated by theRoyal Engineers as one of three major munitions stockpiles. This ammunition depot was serviced by a spur railway line from the main London to Bristol line, branching off just outside the eastern entrance toBox Tunnel. A portion of the underground quarry complex was developed as a 'shadow factory' for aircraft engines, to act as a fallback should theBristol Engine company Factory atFilton be taken out of action by hostile bombing.[20] In practice this factory was never used.
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In another part of the quarry area, Royal Air Force Box was established as the Headquarters ofNo10 Fighter Group,Royal Air Force. RAF Box was later renamedRAF Rudloe Manor and expanded to encompass a number of communications functions, including No1 Signal Unit, Controller Defence Communications Network, No1001 Signal Unit Detachment and Headquarters RAF Provost & Security Service. No1SU and CDCN were both housed in bunkers within the quarry complex, which also included an RAF Regional Command Centre for the South West of England.
British defence doctrine during the earlyCold War period indicated a requirement for afallback location for central government outside London, to assume national control in the event of London being destroyed. The quarry complex at Corsham was chosen for this location and development of the site commenced in the 1950s. In the event of an imminentnuclear attack, it was assumed that the government would be evacuated from London by rail orhelicopter. The facility would provide a safe haven for thePrime Minister, theCabinet, commanders of theRoyal Air Force,Royal Navy, andBritish Army and supportingcivil servants and military personnel. Facilities inside the complex included accommodation and catering for nearly 4,000 people, including ahospital, organic electrical generation and the ability to seal the complex from the outside environment, contaminated byradiation or other threat.
The defence facilities known by various code names like Stockwell, Turnstile, Hawthorn and Burlington have been built in quarries include Military Command & Control, storage and a fallback seat of national government. Some areas of the quarry complex were hardened and provided with support measures to ensure resilience in the event of anuclear attack. The site was decommissioned and placed in a state of care & maintenance in the mid 1990s following the fragmentation of theSoviet Union and the end of the cold war. The site has been offered for sale, conditional on aPrivate Finance Initiative for the continued use of above ground facilities.[21]
Corsham Computer Centre was built into Hudswell Quarry during the 1980s and current examples of other uses include not only defence establishments, but also awine cellar at Eastlays (nearGastard)[22] and storage formagnetic media (forOff-site Data Protection) at Monk's Park (near Neston).[23]
The mine at Monkton Farleigh was used as a Central Ammunition Depot during World War II.[24] Part of the site which was not used by the military is now a part of theBrown's Follysite of special scientific interest.[25]
During 1989 a utilities contractor unexpectedly broke through into part of the mines complex at Combe Down whilst excavating a trench. This raised concerns locally, resulting in the then Bath City Council commissioning studies to survey the condition of the mines. It was clear that the mines were in a very dangerous state and some experts considered them to be the largest, shallowest, and most unstable of their kind in Europe.[26] Approximately 80% of the mines, which are up to 9 metres (30 ft) high and cover a total area of about 18hectares (180,000 m2), had less than 6 metres (20 ft) cover and as little as 2 metres (7 ft) in some places.
In March 1999, the thenDepartment of Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR), now known as theDepartment for Communities and Local Government, announced a Land Stabilisation Programme, based on the Derelict Land Act 1982. A ParliamentaryStatutory Instrument (2002 No. 2053) was needed before the work could be undertaken.[27]Foam concrete was selected as the best material to use in the large-scale infilling of the old mine workings. Over 400,000 cubic metres (523,180 cu yd) of foamed concrete were placed in the shallower underground mines, making it the single largest application of foamed concrete in the United Kingdom.[28][29]
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