Bath Stone
An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is a 'freestone', so-called because it can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such as slate, which form distinct layers.
Layers of marine sediment were deposited, and individual spherical grains were coated with lime as they rolled around the sea bed, forming the Bathonian Series of rocks.
[1] An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is a freestone, one that can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such as slate, which have distinct layers.
In the Roman and medieval periods, Bath Stone was extensively used on domestic and ecclesiastical buildings, as well as civil engineering projects such as bridges.
[2] The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, which was founded in 1738, was designed by John Wood the Elder and built with Bath Stone.
St Stephen’s Church on Lansdown Hill, Bath, was constructed from a limestone sourced from the Limpley Stoke mine, south of the city.
In Reading, the original building of the Royal Berkshire Hospital of 1839, together with the wings added in the 1860s, are built of Bath Stone, with slate roofs.
[10] In the early 18th century, Ralph Allen promoted the use of the stone in Bath itself, and demonstrated its potential by using it for his own mansion at Prior Park.
For example, Hanson Bath & Portland Stone, part of the HeidelbergCement Group, operates Hartham Park Underground Quarry in the Hudswell district (southwest of Pickwick).
Up to 10% of the total British population of greater horseshoe bat uses the mine at times, and a maximum of 230 individuals of the species have been counted at the site.
[15] Following their closure, the mines were used for a variety of purposes, including a mushroom farm, and as an air-raid shelter during the World War II Baedeker raids on Bath.
No1SU and CDCN were both housed in bunkers within the quarry complex, which also included an RAF Regional Command Centre for the South West of England.
The defence facilities known by various code names like Stockwell, Turnstile, Hawthorn and Burlington have been built in quarries include Military Command & Control, storage and a fallback seat of national government.
Some areas of the quarry complex were hardened and provided with support measures to ensure resilience in the event of a nuclear attack.
The site was decommissioned and placed in a state of care & maintenance in the mid 1990s following the fragmentation of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war.
[21] Corsham Computer Centre was built into Hudswell Quarry during the 1980s and current examples of other uses include not only defence establishments, but also a wine cellar at Eastlays (near Gastard)[22] and storage for magnetic media (for Off-site Data Protection) at Monk's Park (near Neston).
This raised concerns locally, resulting in the then Bath City Council commissioning studies to survey the condition of the mines.
