If there's a type of stone that characterises London,
especially the Government estate and major historic buildings including
Buckingham Palace and St Paul's, then that stone is Portland Stone. It's a
limestone, dating back to the Jurassic Period; some facies (varieties) are very
fossil-rich, with Grove Whitbed being rich in oysters, and Roach Stone being
famous for it's 'Osses' heads' (Trigoniid bivalves) and Portland screws, a
variety of gastropod mollusc. Other facies are - to the naked eye least -
free of fossils.
There's a reason for the popularity of Portland Stone
in London, and for its use to rebuild St Paul's after the Great Fire of London
in particular - Sir Christopher Wren owned shares in a certain quarry on the
Isle of Portland! His use of the stone set a trend, and now, in addition
to the buildings I've already cited, think in terms of Regent Street, the Old
Bailey, the Bank of England... One of my favourite buildings is this one,
St John's in Smith Square, Westminster. It's a deconsecrated church now in use
as a classical music venue. One really hot day, I happened to walk
towards it, and there was something about the light, the gleaming stone and the
green of the trees that was beautiful and almost exotic. Being me, I
raised my camera almost in supplication; this photo was the result.
Incidentally, I walked along Millbank the morning after Classical Pride (I went to Tate Britain before heading home - it would have been rude not to!) and there was just so much building and a huge length of roadworks;. I was really disappointed to see that the landmark Canary Islands date palm was gone. It has been moved to a far less visibly accessible site in Churchill Gardens, depriving tourists of a real "Wow, who would have thought those would grow in England?" moment. The traffic may flow imperceptible more quickly, but at what cost?
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