Britain's Marble Quarries

I've had such an exciting morning - discovering the wonderful Britannicus Stone.  This company has gained exclusive rights to a number of small scale quarries, extracting what they describe as 'Shining Stones' - these are the 'lost' British Marbles. 

When Orlando Boyne (the Production Manager at Britannicus Stone) started to investigate the history of Britain’s Limestone quarries he uncovered a fascinating and forgotten architectural heritage dating back to Roman times, and unearthed a precious crop of native ‘Marble’.  To my delight, a number of these quarries are in North Yorkshire and I have arranged for some samples to chisel at.  Some of the stones are very rare - only small seams remain, or even ever existed

Eskett Red - image courtesy Britannicus Stone

Available will be Hopton Old White, a stone used by Eric Gill for many of his carvings; Swaledale Fossil used in Durham Cathedral and York Minster, and another I am very keen to try is Eskett Red, a stone never seen before polished and rare.  How exciting - and thrilling to find others as emotional about stone as I am - listen -

“Standing on the high fell in the clouds and driving rain,
we realised just how passionate we are about the Stones
and the incredible lengths to which we will go to find them”
Orlando Boyne