732 GRANITE 



' The continuation of the Kingston Down granite is worked up the Tamar near 

 New Bridge and exported from Morwellham. A very hard variety is obtained upon 

 the higher part of the Down, and has been employed advantageously for pavements. 

 . . . The chief quarries in the eastern or hard part of the Hensborough mass of 

 granite are those of (the late) Mr. Austin Treffry, up the Par Valley, commonly known 

 as Lostwithiel granite. Extensive quarries are there worked, and the stone is brought 

 to the head of the canal near Pons-mill, upon which it is conveyed to Par harbour, 

 and there shipped. . . . The Cam Menelez mass has furnished the granite most com- 

 monly known as Cornish. It is nearly altogether shipped at Penryn, where it is 

 brought variable distances from different quarries in the vicinity, many situated in the 

 parish of Mabe; ' also in Constantino, Budock, and Stithians. 



Since the above report was written, the quarries at Cheeswring near Liskeard have 

 been opened, and stone of a beautiful quality is raised and exported in large quantities. 

 The Lamorna quarries have also been worked ; the stone obtained from them is of 

 excellent quality, and it can be obtained of almost any size. 



The following great works, amongst many others, have been constructed entirely, or 

 in part, of Cornish granites. The Penryn and Lamorna granites have supplied Port- 

 land Breakwater ; Keyham Docks for the Steam Navy ; Commercial Docks, London ; 

 the Hull, Great Western, and Birkenhead Docks, and the National Works at Chatham 

 and Portsmouth, together with the Scutari Monument. The plinth for the railings of 

 the British Museum was from the Carnsew quarries, and the towers, including the 

 lodge, for gates, &c., from Constantino. From Lamorna blocks of 12 feet square are 

 readily obtained ; these quarries produce about 60,000 feet per annum ; some stones 

 have been raised 25 feet in length and 11 feet in diameter. 



The Wellington Memorial, erected at Strathfieldsaye, from the design of the Baron 

 Marochetti, is constructed of granite entirely from the Constantino quarries. This 

 monument contains stones of unusual character, the die being a single stone 9 ft. 

 6 in. high and 7 ft. square, weighing nearly 40 tons. The shaft of the column is 30 ft. 

 in height in one stone, and some of the mouldings are in stones of nearly 11 ft. square. 

 The whole of the surfaces above the plinth are finely polished, and have all the ap- 

 pearance of being carved from a single block. 



The Cheeswring granite has been used in the London Docks, Westminster Bridge, 

 the Thames Embankment, Eochester Bridge, the Docks at Copenhagen, the Great 

 Basses Lighthouse near the island of Ceylon, and for the Tomb of the Duke of Welling- 

 ton in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral. These quarries produce from 8,000 to 10,000 

 tons of stone per annum, and about a similar quantity is annually shipped from the 

 quarries near Par. 



The granites of Scotland are chiefly produced from the county of Aberdeen. 



The granite of Aberdeen, especially from the quarries of Dancing Cairn, Kubislaw, 

 and Tyrebagger, is much used in the metropolis for kerb and paving stones ; some 

 red granite is also quarried. Around Peterhead the red granite prevails, hence it is 

 usually distinguished as the Peterhead granite. The principal quarries are those of 

 Black Hill, four miles west of Peterhead, belonging to the Governors of the Merchant 

 Maiden Hospital of Edinburgh ; those on the estates of the Earl of Errol at Bod- 

 dam, at Longhaven, at Cairngall, and at Rova. The Sheerness Docks were built 

 mostly with stone from these quarries. The Stirling Hill quarries, at Boddam, fur- 

 nished the pillar of the Duke of York's Monument ; the Seafield quarries the abacus. 

 The beautiful pillars in the library of the British Museum were obtained from Long- 

 haven ; the cost for transport, at the time they were worked, being something almost 

 fabulous, so great were the difficulties attending their removal. The pillars in Fish- 

 mongers' Hall are from the Stirling quarries, as are also the bases of the monuments 

 of Pitt and Fox ; and the polished pillars of the Carlton Club House, in Pall Mall, 

 are from the quarries near Peterhead. 



Granite of excellent quality is obtained in Argyleshire, especially in the island of 

 Mull, where it may be obtained in blocks of enormous size. The quarries are situated 

 on the west side of the island ; a fine pink granite being worked at North Bay, and 

 a dark red variety at Tormor. The Mull granites are especially adapted, by their 

 beauty of colour and uniformity of grain, for purposes of ornament ; and have been 

 largely employed in the construction of the Albert Memorial, recently erected in Hyde 

 Park. 



Granite is also worked to a limited extent in several of the islands round our coast. 

 In the Isle of Man, the grey granite of South Barrule forms a gigantic boss pene- 

 trating the surrounding schistose rocks, and furnishing a stone worked for local con- 

 sumption ; in Lundy Island, which consists almost entirely of granite, quarries have 

 recently been opened ; and in the Channel Islands, certain syenitic varieties have long 

 been worked, and are largely employed as London road-metal. 



The granites of Ireland. The most extensive granite district in Ireland stretchei 



