Westminster Abbey

An artist's impression of Westminster Abbey

  1. Henry VII's Chapel (1509): original Cretaceous Reigate Stone below the Jurassic Bath Stone exterior, recently extensively replaced by white Portland Stone.
  2. Chapter House: renovated (1867) in grey-green Jurassic Chilmark Limestone, a variety of Portland Stone from Wiltshire.
  3. St Edward's Shrine (1269): Jurassic Purbeck Marble crammed with fossil bivalves with horse-shoe outlines which have been called Devil's hoofprints.
  4. Statesmen's Aisle: statues are of Carrara Marble. Gladstone's plinth is a striking example of marble breccia.
  5. Lantern floor of squares of Carrara (white) and Belgian (black) marbles.
  6. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: black Carboniferous Limestone from Belgium, the scene of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.
  7. West Front: blocks of the original (1243) Reigate Stone have lost their sharp outline and become pillow shaped. Portland Stone has been used as a replacement.

Learn more about Westminster Abbey's building stones in the Holiday Geology Guide available from the BGS Bookshop