Stone
Find out a bit more about some of the types of stone we use.
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Please note that the pictures shown here are indicative only; as it is a natural product every piece is unique and will have different markings.
Ancaster Hard White Limestone
Quarried near Grantham in Lincolnshire.
Hard White – has graced cathedrals and prestigious buildings including St. Pancras for many years. The stone is uniform cream in colour with occasional pink shading and varying amount of shell content.
Ancaster Weatherbed Limestone
Quarried near Grantham in Lincolnshire.
This comes as a blue and beige mix and contains many shell fossils.
Cadeby Limestone
Cadeby Limestone is part of the Lower Magnesian limestone deposit (of Lower Permian age).
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The Cadeby Formation limestones have been used for building since Roman times and there is ample evidence of its use in villas and forts from the many Roman sites along its outcrop. It is now commonly used in new build and conservation work.
A light bronze-pale white limestone with mild bedding. The variation over the beds is very consistent. A very durable Limestone.
Bath Stone
This softly honey-coloured stone with a unique texture evokes feelings of grandeur, history and quality. Indeed, we can thank Bath stone, in part, for Bath’s aesthetics and development that have led to it being a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Top Bed Stoke Ground Bath Stone is a finely grained, exceptionally consistent limestone with a pale cream or buff colour that mellows to the quintessential honey colour that is the hallmark of quality Bath Stone.
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Portland Stone
If you were asked what links Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, the Foreign Office, the Cenotaph and St Paul’s Cathedral, you might say that they are all London landmarks and iconic symbols of the British state. You may not realise, however, that they were all built using the same stone - Portland stone is a creamy-white limestone quarried from the Isle of Portland on the Dorset coast.
Stonehills Whitbed has low/Medium shell content. Inclusions being predominantly grey with some white fragments (Solenopora). The shells are mainly large thin clams up to 80mm long laid parallel to the bedding.
Texture: Mostly a tight uniform matrix with some evidence of openness and voids associated with light shell banding.
Colour: Typical Portland colour - creamy/white mellowing to grey/white over time.
Ancaster Freestone
Ancaster freestone is from the same local Lincolnshire quarry that we get our popular hard white and weatherbed limestones.
Texture: a compact, medium grain, predominantly oolitic containing a few shell fragments.
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Colour: Freestone is described as cream to pale brown/buff in colour.