INDUSTRIES 



excellent paving-stone, for it will never break, 

 nor in any reasonable time wear with iron-bound 

 carriages.' The stones, he adds, were collected 

 from ' divers hursts or shelves,' and carried to 

 Nottingham for paving purposes. The coarse 

 paving-stone 13 dug at Linby was employed for 

 the same purpose ; 8s. was paid for one load of 

 this stone in 1637. u 



The extensive use of Mapperley stone, espe- 

 cially in 1813, when it was employed for facing 

 the buildings on the south bank of the Leen 

 from Fickhill Street to Sussex Street, gave rise to 

 the local saying that Nottingham once stood on 

 Mapperley Hills. 15 



The stone of Mansfield obtained the favour- 

 able notice of the commissioners appointed in 

 1839 to consider the suitability of the various 

 building stones of the kingdom for the construc- 

 tion of the Houses of Parliament. There were 

 at that date two quarries at work, Lindley's 

 Red Quarry, which yielded a roseate-brown 

 sandstone, and Lindley's White Quarry, the 

 stone from which was described as whitish- 

 brown in tint. Blocks were obtainable up to 

 IO tons, at a depth of 30 ft., from both quarries. 

 The price at the quarries was 8d. per block. 

 The cost of the stone delivered in London was 

 2s. 6d. per cubic foot, or 2s. 2d. in the case of 

 stone taken from the White Quarry, the method 

 of transit being by land to the railway wharf at 

 Mansfield, one mile, at is. 8^. per ton, to Pinx- 

 ton by rail, 2s. iod., to Gainsborough by the 

 Trent, and by the Erewash, js. 6d. The freight 

 to London by sea was us. in the case of the 

 White Quarry stone, i8s. in that of the Red 



Quarry stone. Stone from the latter quarry was 

 used in the construction of Belton House, while 

 the White Quarry furnished stone for the 

 Mansfield Town Hall, Clumber Lodge, and 

 Wollaton. 18 



In 1855 a great trade was being carried on at 

 Mansfield in cutting and working architectural 

 ornaments from the stone of the neighbouring 

 quarries. 17 



A Mr. Alton had a manufactory for artificial 

 stone, largely used for chimney-pieces, at Mans- 

 field in the early part of the last century, the 

 process of manufacture consisting in laying a 

 composition on stone, which was then coloured, 

 the effect being designed to resemble marble. 18 



Among the minor geological products of Not- 

 tinghamshire are the bluish stone of Maplebeck, 

 which bleaches almost white on exposure, and 

 the blue stone of Beacon Hill, approaching 

 marble in texture, and used for hearths, also for 

 lime-burning. 19 At Bulwell, a yellow stone, 

 brown-red in a few places, is quarried from thin, 

 irregular beds for lime-burning. In the lower 

 part a few feet of more regularly-deposited beds 

 yield paving-slabs, 4 in. to 5 in. thick, some 

 measuring 6 ft. by 5 ft. The stone is also 

 occasionally used for shallow troughs and cis- 

 terns. 20 At the Kimberley quarries the stone is 

 of the same quality as at Bulwell, but the slabs 

 are of larger size. At Strelley a reddish-brown 

 limestone is quarried. 21 



The county output of magnesian limestone for 

 1907 was 128,293 tons, of thevalueof ,12,929," 

 while 3,574 tons of sandstone were obtained 

 from the quarries, the value being ^i,6ii. 23 



GYPSUM OR ALABASTER 



The workable gypsum within the county of 

 Nottingham occurs in the marls of the Keuper 

 Beds in irregular layers usually I in. to 12 in. in 

 thickness 1 ; taking the forms of nodular beds or 

 floors, or of large spheroid or lenticular masses, 

 called 'balls' or 'bowls,' or rows of cakes. 2 Mainly 

 raised at the present day for the manufacture of 

 plaster of Paris, the industry has a twofold history 

 of long standing and considerable mediaeval in- 

 terest, the foliated variety of the mineral having 

 been largely used in former times for plaster for 



13 Lewis, Tofog. Diet, iii, 459. 

 " Rec. Boro. Nott. v, 180. 



14 Stapleton, Old Mapperley, 215-16. 



16 Rep. Building Stone, 1839, p. 22. Freestone was 

 jd. per cubic ft. at Mansfield in 1800 ; dressed for 

 floors, 4/. per yd. ; Harrod, Hist. Mansfield, 34. 



17 Imperial Gazetteer, ii, 290. Mills 'of a very 

 ingenious construction ' were employed ; Lewis, 

 Topog. Diet, iii, 250 



18 Groves, Hist. Mansfield, 369. 

 11 Lewis, Topog. Diet, iii, 458. 



" Aveline,G/. of Country round Nott.iz. " Ibid.i 3. 



floors, whilst the fibrous gypsum gave rise to the 

 industry of the alabaster-man or image-maker. 3 

 'Therein,' writes Speed, ' groweth a stone softer 

 than alabaster, but being burnt maketh a plaister 

 harder than that of Paris ; wherewith they floor 

 their upper rooms, for betwixt the joists they lay 

 only long bulrushes and thereon spread this 

 plaister, which being thoroughly dry, becomes 

 most solid and hard, so that it seemeth rather to 

 be firm stone than mortar, and is trod upon 

 without all danger.' 4 Gotham 5 was formerly 



" Mines and Quarries, 1907, pt. iii, 226. 



13 Ibid. 239. In 1908 the output of limestone 

 decreased to 124,238 tons, and of sandstone to 

 2,880 tons. 



1 Metcalfe, Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1898, p. 760. 



1 V.C.H. Notts, i, 28. 



3 The two trades, according to Mr. Stevenson, 

 were identical, and among the most important in the 

 county in mediaeval times ; Rec. Boro. Nott. iii, 492. 



4 Speed, Theatre Empire Gt. Brit. (1611), 65. 



4 'The village of Gotham stands on a rock of 

 alabaster'; Wanderer, Walks round 'Nott. 233. 



33 1 



