Internal Decorative Stones
A host of exotic rocks from all over the British Isles and Europe have been used as internal decorative stones and for tombs and memorial plaques in almost all of the churches in Hertfordshire. These are some of the most commonly seen.
Purbeck ‘marble’
This dark grey limestone of late Jurassic age was often used for medieval tomb monuments and grave slabs into which brasses were inserted. Fossilised snail and oyster shells can usually be picked out. Technically this is not a marble, which is a metamorphic rock, but a tough sedimentary limestone which will take a fine polish.
Alabaster
This soft white stone with its orange to reddish streaking came into fashion in the Tudor period and was ideally suited for carving the intricate ruffs fashionable in the period. A torch placed behind a thin part of a carved monument will show the translucence typical of this rock type. There was a revival of the use of alabaster in the early 20th century for wall monuments, especially for War Memorials.
Carrara marble
This white glossy marble came to prominence after the Restoration of Charles the Second for high status church monuments. It is harder and whiter than Alabaster and takes a crisper cut, making it the preferred monumental stone up to the present day. The typical white marble favoured by sculptors is known in the trade as ‘First Statuary’. Most of the panels of monumental tombs are of a streaked white and grey variety confusingly called ‘Sicilian’ and a grey variety called ‘Bardiglio’. Other, coloured or brecciated marbles are often used alongside or inserted into Carrara marble monuments for artistic effect.
Victorian exotica
Victorian era wall tablets and church furnishings, such as the pulpit and reredos, often contain a variety of marbles and other stones from all over the British Isles and Europe. Veined grey-green to red Cornish serpentine is common and alabaster comes back into fashion, especially for war memorial tablets. A specialist book such as ‘Decorative Stone – the complete sourcebook’ by Dr. Monica Price will be needed to identify the dozens of different stones that will be found while doing your geological ‘church crawling’.