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.But where did the stone come from originally and what freak or bounty of nature bequeathed it to Portland?
Mark Godden, quarry manager at Albion Stone, says its origins can be traced back 'Time out of mind'
Mr. Godden said "At the end of the Jurassic Period around 150 million years ago and due to continental drift, Britain was situated south of its present position. It lay about 35 degrees North of the equator on a latitude similar to that of modern Florida or Israel." He went on to explain that Portland was formed on the floor of a warm sub- tropical sea and the warmth of the sun caused carbon dioxide in the seawater to dissolve and escape as a gas. Various reactions with other chemical substances within the water then occurred and these combined to form calcium carbonate which is the principal constituent of all limestones. About 27 million years ago around the time when the Alpine mountains were formed rock disturbance folded what is now the Weymouth and Portland area into a large dome and Portland is what remains of its Southern limit.
Although there was certainly no quarrying as we know it today, there is evidence that Mesolithic man used chirt to make tools and weapons. Many of these have been uncovered during the research carried out by Susann Palmer and members of the Association for Portland Archaeology at the Culverwell site on the Bill Road.
Similar Ammonite items made from Portland chirt have been discovered further afield which offers strong evidence that stone age man started his own Portland stone industry.
In the first century AD the Romans made use of the stone from the cliff edges for more sophisticated purposes. The first building to be constructed of Portland stone was Rufus Castle built on top of a cliff at Church Ope for the defence of the Island and its surroundings in the 11th century. In all probability in addition to the arrows fired from the castle any invasion force would have been met with a bombardment of stones. It would appear from Thomas Hardy's description of Portland centuries later as 'The isle of Slingers' that this was a habit which continued.
The building of Rufus Castle would seem to have heralded the start of open quarrying as the worth of the island's asset began to be recognised, but for the next 200 years it was used only locally.
By the 14th century, the news of the beauty and durability of the stone had spread and the first exports were made to Exeter, a considerable distance in those far off days. The stone was used to build Exeter Cathedral and Christchurch Priory.
When asked to name a famous building for which Portland stone was used in the past, most people think of St Paul's Cathedral and Christopher Wren. It was in fact first used in London by Inigo Jones for the banqueting Hall which he built in Whitehall In 1620. After the Great Fire of London in 1666,Wren saw that only Portland stone was worthy for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral. In choosing over one million cubic feet of stone, made available because of a huge landslide which had occurred on the east side of the island 30 years earlier, Wren spent a great deal of time on Portland.
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