YORKSHIRE STONE FOR BUILDING THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT (1839-C.1852)

The use of a Yorkshire stone, from Anston in South Yorkshire, for the building of the 'New' Houses of Parliament in London, which began in 1 839, was something of an accident. The original stone chosen, after ex tensive studies by a Select Committee which included several eminent g eologists, was Permian Lower Magnesian Limestone (now known as the Cad eby Formation) from quarries at Bolsover Moor (Derbyshire) and subsequ ently at Mansfield (Nottinghamshire). However, neither of these quarie s was able to meet the considerable stone output demanded for the buil ding and within a short space of time Magnesian Limestone from the qua rries at Anston, transported via the Chesterfield Canal, was substitut ed and used for most of the upper fabric.