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Uploaded on:
2009-02-18 02:39:48.0
Type:
Digital Asset
File Size:
265.04 KB
Dimensions:
1001 x 737 pixels
3385 views 7 downloads
P number: P201293
Old photograph number: A01304
Caption: Purbeck Stone Quarry or Quarr, Swanage, looking north-north-east, Dorset.
Description: The Purbeck Marble quarried in the Isle of Purbeck is not a true marble (metamorphic limestone) but a hard sedimentary limestone containing numerous freshwater gastropod fossils (Viviparus sp.). When polished the numerous fossils give a marble-like finish. The Purbeck limestones were also an important source of roofing materials. The thinly bedded limestones could be split into thin layers which could be used as a roofing slate. The masons' sheds where the stones were dressed surrounding the quarr are all roofed with Purbeck limestone stone slates. Historically, the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset is an important area for the quarrying of building limestone. The local houses are commonly constructed of Purbeck or Portland Stone. The area is also the source of the famous Purbeck Marble, a dark fossiliferous limestone used decoratively in many historic churches and cathedrals in southern England.
Date taken: Tue Oct 17 00:00:00 GMT 1911
Photographer: Rhodes, J.
Copyright statement: Crown
X longitude/easting: 402500
Y latitude/northing: 78500
Coordinate reference system, ESPG code: 27700 (OSGB 1936 / British National Grid)
Orientation: Landscape
Size: 265.04 KB; 1001 x 737 pixels; 85 x 62 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 195 mm (screen at 96 DPI);
Average Rating: Not yet rated
Categories: Unsorted Images, Geoscience subjects/ Economic geology/ Quarries, Geoscience subjects/ Economic geology/ Building stones, limestone  

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