Purbeck Marble is a
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
iferous
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
quarriedA quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel...
in the
Isle of PurbeckThe Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well...
, a
peninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island.A peninsula can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit....
in south-east
DorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county at . Between its extreme points Dorset measures from east to west and north to south, and has an area of...
, England.
Purbeck Marble is a
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
iferous
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
quarriedA quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel...
in the
Isle of PurbeckThe Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well...
, a
peninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island.A peninsula can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit....
in south-east
DorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county at . Between its extreme points Dorset measures from east to west and north to south, and has an area of...
, England.
It is one of many kinds of
Purbeck Limestone, deposited in the late
JurassicThe Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Ma to Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the "Age of Reptiles". The start of the period is marked by...
or early
CretaceousThe Cretaceous , Latin language for "chalky", usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
periods.
Purbeck Marble is not a
metamorphic rockMetamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
like a true
marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
, but like true marble it can take a fine polish.
Its characteristic appearance comes from densely-packed shells of the freshwater snail
ViviparusViviparus, common name river snails, is a genus of large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks. They are primitive members of the superorder Caenogastropoda.-Distribution:This genus is palaearctic in distribution....
, which are also seen in
Sussex MarbleWest Sussex has a good concentration of relatively thin layers of Sussex Marble within the Weald Clay, a freshwater limestone referred to as "marble" as it takes a polish. It is not a geologically described one as it has not been subject to metamorphosis...
(also known as Petworth Marble or Winklestone) with generally larger Winkles of the same species.
In seams of the stone, which lie between layers of softer marine clays and mudstone, laid down in repeated marine ingressions, mineral impurities give some Purbeck Marble fine red and green varieties.
During the
Romano-BritishRomano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people Celtic in language and custom...
period, Purbeck Marble was used for inscriptions, architectural mouldings and veneers,
mortars and pestlesA mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix substances. The pestle is a heavy bat shaped stick whose end is used for pounding and grinding, and the mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, marble, clay, or stone...
, and other articles.
Purbeck Marble was also quarried in medieval times and can be seen in virtually all the cathedrals of the south of England, in columns and slab panels and flooring.
It has been less used in modern times, but a remarkable example is
the church at
Kingston, Purbeck, DorsetKingston is a village in the English county of Dorset, situated about one mile south of Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck.Kingston lies within the civil parish of Corfe Castle. The parish forms part of the Purbeck local government district....
built in 1874–1880.
Though other strata of Purbeck Limestone are being quarried at the present time (2008), there are no active quarries in the Purbeck Marble.
However Purbeck Marble is required from time to time for restoration work, and some was extracted in 1993.
Purbeck Marble is used by a number of contemporary sculptors.
The pterosaur ichnogenus
Pteraichnus is found in the Purbeck Limestone.
External links