Doulting Stone Quarry () is a limestone quarry at Doulting, on the

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...

, Somerset, England. At present there are only three quarries quarrying Doulting stone. The largest, The Doulting Stone Quarry, was producing building stone in Roman times. In the 20th century it was operated by the Keevil family. Until 1994 it was operated by Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation (now part of Hanson plc) but was then bought out as a stand-alone business. Ham & Doulting Stone Co Ltd own the east quarry which was originally in use for centuries after which followed a period of inactivity. It was reopened 12 years ago. The quarry also offers primary and secondary cutting and profiling. The stone quarried at Doulting is a thick layer of

oolite Oolite or oölite (''egg stone'') is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word for egg (ᾠόν). Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 ...

middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...

age, deposited as sediments in fairly shallow coastal seas. The stone is unusual as it shows unconformity at the division between the oolite and

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

limestone beneath, representing two types of rocks laid down millions of years apart, the intervening sediments having been eroded away before the Jurassic strata were laid down. It has a high level of water absorption and porosity. The stone is used for building purposes, including Glastonbury Abbey and the west façade of Wells Cathedral, and other structures in the cathedral close, such as the fortified gate called The Bishop's Eye.

References

External links

The Doulting Stone Quarry web site

Ham and Doulting Stone
{{coord, 51.190187, N, 2.501578, W, region:GB_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Quarries in the Mendip Hills Geology of Somerset

See also

References

External links