page_title: Bath stone
section_title: Use as a building stone
hierarchical_section_title: Bath stone / Use as a building stone
caption_attribution_description: English: Old Crane This is taken in Freshford Quarry and shows one of the cranes used in this quarry. Because of the height of the workings short cranes had to be used in conjunction with low wagons. These workings are also part of the Bath Stone Company's workings.
context_page_description: Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, 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 as slate, which forms 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.
context_section_description: An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is a freestone, that is one that can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such as slate, which forms distinct layers. In the Roman and Medieval periods, Bath Stone was extensively used on domestic, ecclesiastical and civil engineering projects such as bridges.
  The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, which was founded in 1738, was designed by John Wood the Elder, and built with Bath stone donated by Allen. It is a Grade II listed building.  There is a fine pediment on the building, in Bath stone, which depicts the parable of the good Samaritan.
  St Stephens church, situated on Lansdown Hill in Bath, was constructed from a limestone sourced from the Limpley Stoke mine, which is situated in the Limpley Stoke Valley. The church has recently been restored.
  The material has also been used widely outside Bath itself. Claverton Pumping Station at Claverton, which was built of Bath Stone in about 1810, pumps water from the River Avon to the Kennet and Avon Canal, using power from the flow of the River Avon. The stone was also used for the Dundas Aqueduct, which is 150 yards (137.2 m) long, and has three arches built of Bath Stone, with Doric pilasters, and balustrades at each end.
  Much of Bristol Cathedral was built of Bath Stone, and the Wills Tower, which is the dominant feature of the Wills Memorial Building, is constructed in reinforced concrete faced with Bath and Clipsham stone. Bristol's Cabot 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 architect Hans Price, who designed much of 19th century Weston-super-Mare. In Barnstable, the 1855 construction of Butchers Row used Bath Stone.
  In London, the neo-classical Georgian mansion Lancaster House was built from Bath Stone in 1825 for the Duke of York and Albany, the second son of King George III, as was St Luke's Church, Chelsea in 1824, and several other churches, including Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury, were built from the material. Apsley House, the town house of the Dukes of Wellington, was remodelled by the 1st Duke, using in Bath Stone cladding over the original red brick.
  In Reading, the original building of the Royal Berkshire Hospital of 1839, together with the wings added in the 1860s, are built of Bath Stone, with slate roofs. They are now listed grade II* by English Heritage. In 1860, the nearby Reading railway station, incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed by the Great Western Railway using Bath Stone, and the company also used it for Chippenham railway station.
  Other mansions which have used Bath Stone include: Gatcombe Park, Goldney Hall, Tyntesfield, South Hill Park, Spetchley Park.
  In 2002 the East End of Truro 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. Both projects were supervised by MRDA Architects of London, the Cathedral architects.
caption: An old crane at Freshford Quarry
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