It was redesigned by Charles Barry into an intricate Gothic building 940 feet long. The first job was to get enough of the right building stone to construct the Houses of Parliament. The right stone was vital - it had to be soft enough to carve the intricate details Barry required but strong enough to withstand the weather. Had it been used the Houses of Parliament would have looked very different. In the end Limestone was chosen.
Limestone makes great building stone.
It was formed in ancient oceans and is made up of tiny shells. This means that it is very fine grained. The stone occurs in many areas and was formed at various times in the earth's history when seas covered this country. After weeks of searching Barry and his team honed in several quarries in the Midlands. Several quarries didn't contain enough stone for the job so the final choice was Bolsover Moor in Derbyshire.