Houses of Parliament - The Rotherham Connection web

The Rotherham Connection

The Palace of Westminster

After the destruction of the old parliamentary buildings by fire in 1834, a national competition was held, with the only proviso that the entries should be in the Elizabethan or Gothic Style. Sir Charles Barry emerged as the winner from 97 entries and one of his first tasks was to locate a suitable building stone which would satisfy the combined criteria of durability and relative ease of working. The London Guild of Stonemasons advocated that Portland stone be used for the new Houses of Parliament, as it had been successfully used for well over 200 years. However, in response to new scientific evidence suggesting that limestones might not be resistant to the increasingly sulphurous London atmosphere, it was considered appropriate to investigate a full range of alternatives, together with an assessment of their relative costs. A Select Committee, comprising Barry, Henry de la Beche – head of the newly formed British Geological Survey - a leading sculptor/mason and William Smith (the ‘Father of English geology’) made a tour of 102 quarries and an inspection of reference buildings, complemented by a series of laboratory tests.

Geological map of the British Islands

The Triton Stone Library – A collection of 140 stone samples from working quarries

The Royal Exchange in London. Built between 1841-1844, in a classical style

Details of the frieze sculpture to the pediment of the Royal Exchange

The statue of “Commerce”

As with frostbite, the extremities such as noses, fingers and toes were often decayed

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office – 1861-1868

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office – the statue of Queen Victoria

Sheffield Town Hall and Peace Gardens – Millstone Grit from Derbyshire – like Darley Dale

A section through a quarry in Ancaster limestone with thick beds and few joints

Dolomitic limestone from Bolsover Moor and Mansfield Woodhouse were both used and discarded because stone blocks of sufficient size could not be obtained. Persisting with their faith in modern analytical science, Anston Stone was used for all subsequent work.

A view from Lambeth Bridge

Westminster Bridge

West facade

The highly ornamental Gothic style

Details of the Victoria Tower – completed in May 1860

Serious defects in the stone were visible in the stone, as early as 1849. In 1860, Charles Dickens described the stone as being “the worst ever used in the capital”, having seen the need for constant, expensive repair.

At least 50% of the original Anston stone has been replaced with Clipsham stone

Greenlands Park

Contrast between thickly and thinly bedded limestone

Weathering of “vents” in the quarry face – 13% reduction in volume, producing voids, shrinkage cracks , vughs etc which may be wholly or only partially filled with calcite

The Limekilns housing estate

The old quarry face in 1996

2014

Detail of drill holes for plug and feathers method of extracting large blocks of stone

A gate post carved from one block of stone

A close up of the gate post showing “shakes” – 13% shrinkage by volume

Differential weathering in Anston Stones Wood

Pinnacle at South Anston Memorial Gardens

A pinnacle in South Anston

Damage caused by rusting iron dowels

Display at Clifton Park Museum

Stone from the Palace of Westminster

Roche Abbey – relatively simple masonry. The stone is still in good condition.

Conisbrough Castle. The ashlar masonry to the keep is exceptionally well preserved

Brodsworth Hall, showing the restoration of low level stones affected by rising damp

Heavily weathered and eroded details

Deeply eroded scroll brackets and weathering details

The old quarry face showing variation in bed thickness and joints and fractures

The Quarry Garden at Brodsworth Hall