Continuing a mini-tour around Weardale, I wasn’t sure whether to post this up at first, due to it being part-live and the fact that we couldn’t get into a few of the buildings where I wanted to be.. that as well as the ‘very vocal’ tannoys under the PIR’s we tripped was enough to send security on their patrols trying to seek us out.
What followed was hiding in a tiny outhouse (partly from the torrential downpour as well as security) in which there was very little to see and thus ensued the most boring game of “I-spy†in history to pass the time considering we didn’t really KNOW what most of the rubbish piled there was …
“Er….. I spy something beginning with ‘T’…..â€
“um…. that ‘Thing’....over there ?â€
“yup…... your turn..â€
But after looking through the limited pics, I still quite like it and may even do a revisit as Im back that way again soon… Visited with the usual partners in crime, Dave and Sed. Cheers guys, despite the downpour, was still a great mooch and as always, in great company.
Limestone has been quarried from the valley sides around Frosterley since the 12th
century but it was in the 1800s that the village became an important centre for
limestone quarrying. Limestone has many uses - as a roadstone, agricultural lime, for
flux in the iron and steel industry and for cement.
A special type of limestone is found in Frosterley; this fossil-rich stone, known as
Frosterley marble, can be polished to a high shine. Technically, it is not a proper marble.
Marble is formed when limestone is heated or subjected to pressure (or both) which
causes it to recrystallize into marble. This limestone has not been altered in this way. It
is the white fossils, from a tropical seabed of 325 million years ago, encapsulated
within the dark grained limestone which make this such a decorative stone.
The most famous use of Frosterley marble is in Durham Cathedral. Here, the ceiling of
the Chapel of the Nine Altars is supported by slender columns of this unusual stone.
The columns would have been roughly cut, possibly from the Bollihope Burn river bed,
then transported to the cathedral building site. Here, industrious Norman monks would
have begun the laborious process of polishing, using blocks of sandstone lubricated
with water and leather cloths impregnated with fine sand and silt, to bring the stone
to a smooth decorative finish.
Broadwood Quarry still quarries Frosterley marble today.
What followed was hiding in a tiny outhouse (partly from the torrential downpour as well as security) in which there was very little to see and thus ensued the most boring game of “I-spy†in history to pass the time considering we didn’t really KNOW what most of the rubbish piled there was …
“Er….. I spy something beginning with ‘T’…..â€
“um…. that ‘Thing’....over there ?â€
“yup…... your turn..â€
But after looking through the limited pics, I still quite like it and may even do a revisit as Im back that way again soon… Visited with the usual partners in crime, Dave and Sed. Cheers guys, despite the downpour, was still a great mooch and as always, in great company.
Limestone has been quarried from the valley sides around Frosterley since the 12th
century but it was in the 1800s that the village became an important centre for
limestone quarrying. Limestone has many uses - as a roadstone, agricultural lime, for
flux in the iron and steel industry and for cement.
A special type of limestone is found in Frosterley; this fossil-rich stone, known as
Frosterley marble, can be polished to a high shine. Technically, it is not a proper marble.
Marble is formed when limestone is heated or subjected to pressure (or both) which
causes it to recrystallize into marble. This limestone has not been altered in this way. It
is the white fossils, from a tropical seabed of 325 million years ago, encapsulated
within the dark grained limestone which make this such a decorative stone.
The most famous use of Frosterley marble is in Durham Cathedral. Here, the ceiling of
the Chapel of the Nine Altars is supported by slender columns of this unusual stone.
The columns would have been roughly cut, possibly from the Bollihope Burn river bed,
then transported to the cathedral building site. Here, industrious Norman monks would
have begun the laborious process of polishing, using blocks of sandstone lubricated
with water and leather cloths impregnated with fine sand and silt, to bring the stone
to a smooth decorative finish.
Broadwood Quarry still quarries Frosterley marble today.
Cat.
