Celebrated stones: Hopton Wood
Hoptonwood Stone, a beautiful cream stone, was first quarried near Ryder Point, west of Middleton from about 1750. Operations then moved first to Hopton Wood Quarry, then, by 1850, to Middleton Quarry. At least four other sites were worked for this stone, some were the subject of famous court cases. The stone was used for interiors in numerous important buildings including, Chatsworth House, Windsor Castle, Houses of Parliament, the Bank of England and many cathedrals. Following the two World Wars, it provided thousands of head stones for cemeteries worldwide.
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By 1957, accessible deposits were running out and demand was declining. Production switched to underground mining of this stone for industrial purposes. However, small-scale quarrying of Hoptonwood Stone has recently been revived by Longcliffe and Lowes Marble. At Coal Hills, (the site of the National Stone Centre), a black limestone was worked and at Dene Hollow (now Dene Quarry), a brown limestone packed with fossil crinoid stems (sold as 'Derby Dene' and 'Hadene') was also dug. All these stones were easily polished and so were often sold under the name 'marble' (although this is geologically incorrect).
Pisani's works south of Cromford (which was started to process Dene stone), is now the largest stockyard of imported marble and granite in the country. |
