Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major public buildings in London such as St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace. It is also exported to many countries—Portland stone is used in the United Nations headquarters building in New York City, for example.
The term "Portland Cement" was coined by Joseph Aspdin who in 1824 patented a hydraulic binder created by burning a mixture of limestone and clay, resembling the previously existing Roman cement and presenting a texture very close to that of the oolitic Portland stone.
Read more about Portland Stone: Geological Information, Quarries and Mines, Portland Stone Buildings, Memorials
Famous quotes containing the words portland and/or stone:
“It is said that a carpenter building a summer hotel here ... declared that one very clear day he picked out a ship coming into Portland Harbor and could distinctly see that its cargo was West Indian rum. A county historian avers that it was probably an optical delusion, the result of looking so often through a glass in common use in those days.”
—For the State of New Hampshire, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Why silk is soft and the stone wounds
The child shall question all his days,
Why night-time rain and the breast’s blood
Both quench his thirst he’ll have a black reply.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)