JJorthmb 



By Mr. A, M. WALLIS. 



UAKRYING stone in Portland dates back from a 

 very early period. The banqueting house at 

 Whitehall was constructed of material brought 

 from Portland in 1610. After the great fire of 

 London it took the form of a trade. St. Paul's 

 Cathedral and other public buildings were built of 

 Portland stone. All of the quarries are worked from the top, and 

 it was necessary to remove from ten to fifty feet of the superin- 

 cumbent Purbeck beds before the Portland beds could be reached. 

 The site chosen was near the edge of the cliff where the Purbeck 

 beds could be conveniently disposed of and not far from the place 

 of shipment of which there are many evidences ; remains of piers 

 may be traced around the island. Few would believe that a pier 

 was ever erected in the West Bay, but there is one, however, at a 

 place called Little Bow, near the Tar Rocks. The Purbeck beds 

 are locally known as Mublle and Cap 1, Kubbly bed, composed 

 of clay and shivered stone ; 2, clay seam ; 3, hard slate ; 4, 

 bacon tier, composed of stone and clay ; 5, seam of clay, dark 

 brown, streaked with green ; 6, a layer of soft stone called aish, 

 which, when solid, is very white and used for whitening hearthstones 

 and doorsteps; 7, soft bur stone, coarse-grained, and used in the 



