MARBLES. 
25 
Devonshire Marbles. — Pilasters , 46 and 139. Screen B, 
Columns , Slabs, &c., Nos. 10, 43, 61, 63, 102, 120, 154, 193 
and 194. Inlaid Table, 163, Cubes in Case I. 
The limestone formations of Devonshire, from which orna- 
mental marbles are obtained, may be said to be confined to the 
districts extending* from Torbay to a few miles beyond Newton 
Abbott and Totnes, and to the neighbourhood of Plymouth. 
These limestones, often united under the general term of the 
“ Great Devon Limestone/’ belong to the group of strata known to 
geologists as the Devonian system , and are placed in that section 
which is recognized as Middle Devonian. The limestones, of 
the Carboniferous series of North Devon are rarely worked for 
ornamental purposes. 
Marble works have been extensively carried on at St. Mary 
Church near Torquay, the Babbacombe limestones yielding some, 
interesting varieties of the red, grey, and variegated marbles. 
Many bands are almost entirely formed of fossil corals, and are 
consequently known as madrepore marbles; it has often been 
suggested that the origin of both the Torquay and Plymouth 
marbles may have been of an analogous character to that of the 
coral formations now taking place in the Pacific and Indian 
Oceans. The “ Buck’s-horn marble ” or “ Feather stone,” owes 
its peculiar character to the presence of a coral usually called 
Favosites cervicornis. Crinoids, brachiopods, and other fossils 
are also common in the Great Devon Limestone. 
At Ipplepen there is an extremely handsome variety of a 
reddish marble, and some of a nearly similar character occurs 
near Totnes. The limestones of Plymouth are not generally 
so handsome as those of Babbacombe, but many very fine 
examples may be obtained. The quarries of Oreston, near 
Plymouth, furnished the stone employed in the construction of 
the Plymouth breakwater, and in connexion with the use of 
this limestone for that purpose, one curious circumstance 
attracted attention. Between high and low water marks the 
boring molluscs ( Pholas dactylus) so perforated the limestones 
that it was found necessary to replace them by blocks of granite, 
which, being much harder than the shells of these animals, 
resists their action. 
Devonshire marbles are exhibited from Babbacombe, Bradley, 
Ipplepen, Buckfastleigh, Ogwell, Chudleigh, Kitley Park, and 
Plymouth. 
The large round table in the Hall (No. 163), inlaid with 
marbles which are solely the productions of Devonshire, is 
interesting as an illustration of the remarkable variety of 
ornamental stones yielded by this county. 
Marbles of Bristol, Isle of Man, &c. — Columns, &c., 16, 
158, 205. Cubes in Case II. 
The Bristol marbles, like those of Derbyshire, but unlike 
those of Devonshire, belong to the Carboniferous formation. 
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