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Bargate stone is a highly durable form of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. It owes its yellow, butter or honey colouring to a high

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

content. In some contexts it may be considered to be a form of

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

. However, in the context of stone buildings local to the extraction of Bargate Stone, the term 'ironstone' is often used to refer to a darker stone, also extracted from the Greensand, which rusts to a brown colour.https://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/media/2310/Repair-and-Maintenance-of-Stone-Buildings/pdf/advisory_leaflet_9_repair_and_maintenance_of_stone_buildings.pdf

Sources

This stone was quarried for centuries in the Bargate Member of the

Greensand Ridge The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it runs ...

, particularly where it is widest in south west Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It occurs near the surface and was quarried in the hillsides near

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

. Medieval quarries are still visible in Godalming, at the foot of Holloway Hill. Bargate stone is rare in current use due to its short supply.

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City o ...

Yorkstone Yorkstone or York stone is a variety of sandstone, specifically from quarries in Yorkshire that have been worked since the middle ages. Yorkstone is a tight grained, Carboniferous sedimentary rock. The stone consists of quartz, mica, fe ...

and other similar coloured stone is sometimes used as alternatives, or to complement it.

Petrography

Bargate stone is typically a mix of sandy bioclastic limestone and bioclastic standstone. The intergranular cements comprise ferroan carbonate.

Use

Bargate Stone is found in many buildings in Surrey, approximately 250 of which are listed, and in two churches in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It is endemic to older buildings near the

where it is found. Its 20th century use tended towards coursed use of Bargate sandstone with bricks, or concrete, sometimes with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitr ...

dressings or mortar rendering.Pinewoods

Examples

Early medieval

*The

Keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

Guildford Castle Guildford Castle is in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is thought to have been built by William the Conqueror, or one of his barons, shortly after the 1066 invasion of England. History From the eleventh to the thirteenth century Construction a ...

. It was a credit to the strength of Bargate that it was chosen for the main structure, standing on top of the natural

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Cha ...

and Bargate stone bedrock, made it available by quarrying in the locality. * Godalming Parish Church, Grade I listed assisted by

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

features. *Church of St. Mary and All Saints,

Dunsfold Dunsfold is a village in the borough of Waverley, Surrey, England, 8.7 miles (14 kilometres) south of Guildford. It lies in the Weald and reaches in the north the southern escarpment of the Greensand Ridge. It includes the Wey and Arun Canal, ...

*St Nicholas's Church Compton, Guildford (Bargate rubble used, mortar-rendered) *Church of St. Mary the Virgin (12th century tower only),

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is south south-east of Croydon in Greater London, west of Sevenoaks in Kent, and north of East Grinstead in West Sussex. Oxte ...

Tandridge District Tandridge is a local government district in east Surrey, England. Its council is based in Oxted, although the largest settlement is Caterham; other notable settlements include Warlingham, Godstone and Lingfield. In mid-2019, the district had an e ...

, east Surrey *St Mary's Church, (relevantly mostly in

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, such as resembling chalk in lo ...

from its own Quarry Street) Guildford * St James's Church, Abinger *All Saints Church, Witley, Surrey

16th Century

Tillingbourne Cottage,

Wotton, Surrey Wotton is a well-wooded parish with one main settlement, a small village mostly south of the A25 between Guildford in the west and Dorking in the east. The nearest village with a small number of shops is Westcott. Wotton lies in a narrow vall ...

17th Century

Cosford Mill,

Thursley Thursley is a village and civil parish in southwest Surrey, west of the A3 between Milford and Hindhead. An associated hamlet is Bowlhead Green. To the east is Brook. In the south of the parish rises the Greensand Ridge, in this section re ...

18th Century

Leith Hill Tower Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

19th Century

*St Catherine's School/Drama Studio, Guildford *St Stephen's Church, Gloucester Road, London ( York stone parpoints and dressings in

) *St Nicholas's Church, Guildford *St Michael's Church, York Town, Camberley *The Shah Jahan Mosque, completed in 1889 along with similar-coloured

, but a limestone not a sandstone *

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

(completed 1872) *St Stephen's Church, Rochester Row,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

Munstead Wood Munstead Wood is a Grade I listed house and garden in Munstead Heath, Busbridge on the boundary of the town of Godalming in Surrey, England, south-east of the town centre. The garden was created by garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, and became ...

*Chinthurst Hill *Grafham Grange School, Bramley *St James' Court, Farnham * St Johns Church, Caterham

20th Century

*The

Pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. ...

, Vann Park and Garden, Hambledon *Pinewoods, Oxshott * Tigbourne Court, Wormley (blocks with thin horizontal bands of tiles) *

Hascombe Court Hascombe Court is a estate in Hascombe, Surrey, best known for its vast garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. Hascombe Court is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England, and its gardens are also Grade II listed on the Register of ...

Hascombe Hascombe is a village in Surrey, England. It contains a large cluster of cottages and country estates, St Peter's church, the village green, a fountain, pond, a central public house and is surrounded by steep wooded hillsides. History Above the ...

*Platform of war memorial,

Bramshott Bramshott is a village with mediaeval origins in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 0.9 miles (1.4 km) north of Liphook. The nearest railway station, Liphook, is south of the village. History The first evidence for ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

St Tarcisius Church, Camberley St Tarcisius Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Camberley, Surrey. It was built between 1923 and 1924 and was designed by Frederick Walters. It is situated on the London Road, to the north of the town, next to The Atrium Shopping Cent ...

— the War Memorial Church to the British Catholic army officers who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. North Lady Chapel has triple arches and a stone reredos depicting the Virgin and Child and angels Bath stone dressings *

Orchards An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of la ...

by Edwin Lutyens and

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...

, BramleyOrchards (park and garden)

Notes and references

;Notes ;References {{DEFAULTSORT:Bargate Stone Sandstone in the United Kingdom Building stone