OLD PORTLAND. 241 



in the Grove district. The wealth of stone was revealed 

 by extensive landslips. 



It is often implied in guide-books that Portland stone 

 was well-nigh unknown until Inigo Jones used it in the 

 reign of James I. But it was used locally from the earliest 

 period of history. Evidence has been discovered on the 

 Island that it was occasionally quarried for sepulchral pur- 

 poses in Celtic times. In the Norman period Rufus Castle 

 was built entirely of Portland stone, and the Norman church 

 in the main was likewise built of the local oolite and slats. 

 The early sepulchral slabs in the old churchyard and the 

 " Chapel " at Wakehain are also of stone from the Island. 

 The Fabric Rolls of the Cathedral of Exeter show that at 

 the beginning of the 14th century Portland stone was export- 

 ed in considerable quantities as far as Exeter ; and there 

 is an ancient tradition that there was a " Black Friars' 

 Pier " on the east side of the Island, in the Grove district.* 

 A large amount of Portland stone was purchased for the 

 Royal Palace and Chapel at Westminster and for the Tower 

 of London ; and stone from the Island forms the outer 

 walls of Wyke Regis Church, Portland Castle, and Sandsfoot 

 Castle, Weymouth. The quarrying, however, in these earlier 

 days until the 17th century seems to have been fitful and 

 sometimes stationary. 



A list of the important religious and secular buildings in 

 London and elsewhere which were built of Portland stone 

 in the 17th century and onwards would take far too much 

 space. The most illustrious of them all, S. Paul's Cathedral, 

 was quarried from the East Cliff Quarries, known as " the 

 King's Quarry," and the bulk of the stone " sailed " from 

 the " South Pier " (probably " King's Pier ") in the Grove 

 district. At one time there were six piers, in use or disused, 

 along the east side of Portland, beginning at the picturesque 



* The Black Friars of Melcombe Regis contributed to the increase 

 of the port (of Melcombe Regis) by building a jetty there against the 

 ebb and now of the tide. 



