Bluestone
Encyclopedia
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension
or building stone varieties, including:
. It is a "convenience" label rather than a geological term, since at least 20 different rock types are represented. One of the most common rocks in the assemblage is known as Preseli Spotted Dolerite—a chemically altered igneous rock
containing spots or clusters of plagioclase
feldspar
. It is medium grained dark and heavy rock, harder than granite. Preseli bluestone tools, such as axes, have been discovered all over the British Isles. Many of them appear to have been made in or near Stonehenge, since there are petrographic similarities with some of the spotted dolerites there.
The bluestones at Stonehenge
were placed there during the third phase of construction at Stonehenge around 2300 BC. It is assumed that there were about 80 of them originally, but this has never been proven since only 43 remain. The stones weigh between 2 and 4 tons each. The majority of them are believed to have been brought from the Preseli Hills
, about 250 miles away in Wales
, either through glaciation (glacial erratic
theory) or through humans organizing their transportation. If a glacier transported the stones, then it must have been the Irish Sea Glacier
.
Recently the archaeological find of the Boscombe Bowmen
has been cited in support of the human transport theory, while new glacier modelling supports the erratic theory. Preseli Bluestone dolerite axe heads have been found around the Preseli Hills as well, indicating that there was a population who knew how to work with the stones.
A summary which outlines the major aspects of the Stonehenge "bluestone conundrum" has recently been published.
A new book devoted specifically to the problem of bluestone provenance and transport concludes that the Stonehenge bluestones are essentially an ill-sorted assemblage of glacial erratics.
, which is produced in hundreds of small quarries in adjacent areas of Pennsylvania and New York. It is also quarried in the Canadian Appalachians near Deer Lake in Western Newfoundland. The Pennsylvania Bluestone
Association has 105 members, the vast majority of them quarriers. The other, lesser known, type of American bluestone is formed from a different sedimentary rock, limestone. The limestone is abundant in the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia
yet The Frazier Quarry
is the only remaining quarry that cuts dimension stone from it.
Bluestone from Pennsylvania
and New York
is commercially known as bluestone or Pennsylvania Bluestone
. These are a group of sandstones defined as feldspathic greywacke
. The sand-sized grains from which bluestone is constituted were deposited in the Catskill Delta
during the Middle to Upper Devonian Period of the Paleozoic Era, approximately 370 to 345 million years ago. If the initial deposit was made under slow moving water the ripples of the water action on the sand or mud will be revealed. This deposition process may be seen today at any ocean beach in shallow water or in a stream bed where conditions allow it to be observed. The term "bluestone" is derived from a deep-blue-colored sandstone first found in Ulster County, New York
.
The Catskill Delta was created from run off from the Acadian Mountains ("Ancestral Appalachians") which covered the area where New York City now exists. This Delta ran in a narrow band from southwest to northeast and today provides the base material for the high-quality bluestone which is quarried from the Catskill Mountains
(and Northeast Pennsylvania).
As the product became more popular as an architectural and building stone and demand grew, quarrying for it spread throughout south central New York and northeast Pennsylvania. It is a unique commodity of particular value to the economy of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
.
Bluestone from the Shenandoah Valley
is regionally known as bluestone but a less ambiguous name is Shenandoah Valley Bluestone. The limestone formed during the Ordovician
Period approximately 450 to 500 million years ago, but it was formed at the bottom of a relatively shallow ocean that then covered what is today Rockingham County, Virginia
. However, the limestone that accumulated in Rockingham County was darker in color than most other limestone deposits because it was in deeper waters exposed to less light. The darker blue color resulted in limestone from this region to be dubbed bluestone and with two sequences measuring about 10,000 ft, it gives the area one of the largest limestone deposits in the world. The stone eventually fades from a deep blue to a light grey after prolonged exposure to the sun and rain.
Given the abundance of the stone in the Rockingham County area, the first settlers used it as foundations and chimneys for their houses. When James Madison University
was built, the native bluestone was used to construct the buildings because of its high quality and cultural ties. The Frazier Quarry
in Harrisonburg, Virginia Continues to supply JMU with the native bluestone.
In Victoria, Australia, bluestone was one of the favoured building materials of the 1850s during the Victorian Gold Rush
. In Melbourne
it was extracted from a quarry in the Clifton Hill
area and used extensively in the 19th century. Because the material was difficult to carve, it was predominantly used for warehouses and the foundations of public buildings. Significant bluestone buildings include the Melbourne Gaol
, HM Prison Pentridge
, St Patrick's Cathedral
, Victoria Barracks
, Melbourne Grammar School
, Deaf Children Australia
and Victorian College for the Deaf
, Royal Victorian College for the Blind, the Goldsborough Mort warehouses (Bourke Street
) and Timeball Tower
. It was also used extensively for cobblestone roads, many which still exist in some of Melbourne's smaller lanes as well as walls, bridges, curbs and gutters in many of the inner suburbs. Some examples of structures that use the material include Princes Bridge
and Federation Wharf and Hawthorn Bridge
. Because of its distinctive qualities, post-modern Melbourne buildings have also made use of nostalgic bluestone, including the Southgate complex and promenade in Southbank, Victoria
and apartments such as the Melburnian.
It was also sourced in many other regions of the Victorian volcanic plains and used in towns and cities of central and western regions including Ballarat, Geelong, Kyneton, Port Fairy and Portland
.
, the name bluestone is given to a form of slate which is much less durable than Victorian bluestone, but was valued for its decorative appearance. The interior of the stone is usually pale grey or beige in colour, but is given attractively coloured surfaces by ferric oxide and other minerals deposited in joints and bedding planes. The slate is laid in masonry with the mineralised surfaces exposed. Bluestone was most popular from about the 1850s to the 1920s, quarried in the Adelaide Hills
at Dry Creek
, O'Halloran Hill (formerly Tapley's Hill) and Glen Osmond, and a number of other places in rural areas.
bluestone is an attractive building material, used both historically and to the present. It is a grey basalt similar to Victorian bluestone, quarried near Timaru in the South Island. Bluestone from near Kokonga in Central Otago
is also widely used, and is the main construction material (often with facing of Oamaru stone
, a local compact limestone) in many of the notable historic buildings in the southern South Island, most of which were constructed during the financial boom following the Central Otago gold rush
.
Prominent structures to use this combination include Otago University Registry Building, Dunedin Law Courts, and Dunedin Railway Station
. Similar construction using Timaru bluestone was used for Christchurch Arts Centre
.
Dimension stone
Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and fabricated to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements...
or building stone varieties, including:
- a feldspathicFeldsparFeldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
in the U.S. and Canada; - limestoneLimestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
in the Shenandoah ValleyShenandoah ValleyThe Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
in the U.S. and from the Hainaut quarries in SoigniesSoigniesSoignies is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut.The municipality is composed of the Town of Soignies together with the villages of Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Neufvilles, Naast and Thieusies...
, BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
; - basaltBasaltBasalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
in VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia and in New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
; - slateSlateSlate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
in South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
; and - the dolerite of StonehengeStonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
in Britain.
Bluestone of Stonehenge
The term "bluestone" in Britain is used in a loose sense to cover all of the "foreign" stones at StonehengeStonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
. It is a "convenience" label rather than a geological term, since at least 20 different rock types are represented. One of the most common rocks in the assemblage is known as Preseli Spotted Dolerite—a chemically altered igneous rock
Igneous rock
Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...
containing spots or clusters of plagioclase
Plagioclase
Plagioclase is an important series of tectosilicate minerals within the feldspar family. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a solid solution series, more properly known as the plagioclase feldspar series...
feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
. It is medium grained dark and heavy rock, harder than granite. Preseli bluestone tools, such as axes, have been discovered all over the British Isles. Many of them appear to have been made in or near Stonehenge, since there are petrographic similarities with some of the spotted dolerites there.
The bluestones at Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
were placed there during the third phase of construction at Stonehenge around 2300 BC. It is assumed that there were about 80 of them originally, but this has never been proven since only 43 remain. The stones weigh between 2 and 4 tons each. The majority of them are believed to have been brought from the Preseli Hills
Preseli Hills
The Preseli Hills or Preseli Mountains are a range of hills in north Pembrokeshire, West Wales...
, about 250 miles away in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, either through glaciation (glacial erratic
Glacial erratic
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...
theory) or through humans organizing their transportation. If a glacier transported the stones, then it must have been the Irish Sea Glacier
Irish Sea Glacier
The Irish Sea Glacier was a huge glacier during the Ice Age that, probably on more than one occasion, flowed southwards from its source areas in Scotland and Ireland and across the Isle of Man, Anglesey and Pembrokeshire....
.
Recently the archaeological find of the Boscombe Bowmen
Boscombe Bowmen
The Boscombe Bowmen is the name given by archaeologists to a group of early Bronze Age individuals found in a shared burial at Boscombe Down near Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England....
has been cited in support of the human transport theory, while new glacier modelling supports the erratic theory. Preseli Bluestone dolerite axe heads have been found around the Preseli Hills as well, indicating that there was a population who knew how to work with the stones.
A summary which outlines the major aspects of the Stonehenge "bluestone conundrum" has recently been published.
A new book devoted specifically to the problem of bluestone provenance and transport concludes that the Stonehenge bluestones are essentially an ill-sorted assemblage of glacial erratics.
In the United States and Canada
The best known American variety of bluestone is a feldspathic sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, which is produced in hundreds of small quarries in adjacent areas of Pennsylvania and New York. It is also quarried in the Canadian Appalachians near Deer Lake in Western Newfoundland. The Pennsylvania Bluestone
Pennsylvania Bluestone
Pennsylvania Bluestone is a layered sandstone found only in the northeastern tier of Pennsylvania, parts of northern New Jersey and the southern tier of New York. The quarried product has many uses, from cut dimensional stone used in patios, walkways and stair treads to architectural stone used in...
Association has 105 members, the vast majority of them quarriers. The other, lesser known, type of American bluestone is formed from a different sedimentary rock, limestone. The limestone is abundant in the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
yet The Frazier Quarry
Frazier Quarry
The Frazier Quarry Inc. is a large family owned quarry and stone product retailer based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Harrisonburg, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley. It is the only producer of Shenandoah Valley Bluestone and also provides crushed stone and retail products...
is the only remaining quarry that cuts dimension stone from it.
Bluestone from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
is commercially known as bluestone or Pennsylvania Bluestone
Pennsylvania Bluestone
Pennsylvania Bluestone is a layered sandstone found only in the northeastern tier of Pennsylvania, parts of northern New Jersey and the southern tier of New York. The quarried product has many uses, from cut dimensional stone used in patios, walkways and stair treads to architectural stone used in...
. These are a group of sandstones defined as feldspathic greywacke
Greywacke
Greywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
. The sand-sized grains from which bluestone is constituted were deposited in the Catskill Delta
Catskill Delta
The Devonian Catskill Formation or the Catskill clastic wedge is a unit of mostly terrestrial sedimentary rock found in Pennsylvania and New York. Minor marine layers exist in this thick rock unit...
during the Middle to Upper Devonian Period of the Paleozoic Era, approximately 370 to 345 million years ago. If the initial deposit was made under slow moving water the ripples of the water action on the sand or mud will be revealed. This deposition process may be seen today at any ocean beach in shallow water or in a stream bed where conditions allow it to be observed. The term "bluestone" is derived from a deep-blue-colored sandstone first found in Ulster County, New York
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
.
The Catskill Delta was created from run off from the Acadian Mountains ("Ancestral Appalachians") which covered the area where New York City now exists. This Delta ran in a narrow band from southwest to northeast and today provides the base material for the high-quality bluestone which is quarried from the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
(and Northeast Pennsylvania).
As the product became more popular as an architectural and building stone and demand grew, quarrying for it spread throughout south central New York and northeast Pennsylvania. It is a unique commodity of particular value to the economy of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 42,238 people, 16,529 households, and 11,785 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 21,829 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
.
Bluestone from the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
is regionally known as bluestone but a less ambiguous name is Shenandoah Valley Bluestone. The limestone formed during the Ordovician
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...
Period approximately 450 to 500 million years ago, but it was formed at the bottom of a relatively shallow ocean that then covered what is today Rockingham County, Virginia
Rockingham County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 67,725 people, 25,355 households, and 18,889 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile . There were 27,328 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
. However, the limestone that accumulated in Rockingham County was darker in color than most other limestone deposits because it was in deeper waters exposed to less light. The darker blue color resulted in limestone from this region to be dubbed bluestone and with two sequences measuring about 10,000 ft, it gives the area one of the largest limestone deposits in the world. The stone eventually fades from a deep blue to a light grey after prolonged exposure to the sun and rain.
Given the abundance of the stone in the Rockingham County area, the first settlers used it as foundations and chimneys for their houses. When James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...
was built, the native bluestone was used to construct the buildings because of its high quality and cultural ties. The Frazier Quarry
Frazier Quarry
The Frazier Quarry Inc. is a large family owned quarry and stone product retailer based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Harrisonburg, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley. It is the only producer of Shenandoah Valley Bluestone and also provides crushed stone and retail products...
in Harrisonburg, Virginia Continues to supply JMU with the native bluestone.
In Australia
There are two distinct building materials known as bluestone in Australia. Victorian bluestone is a basalt or olivine basalt, and is quarried by a number of companies throughout the state.In Victoria, Australia, bluestone was one of the favoured building materials of the 1850s during the Victorian Gold Rush
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
. In Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
it was extracted from a quarry in the Clifton Hill
Clifton Hill, Victoria
Clifton Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. The border between Clifton Hill and Fitzroy North is Queens Parade and Smith Street. Merri Creek defines the eastern border of Clifton Hill. Its Local Government Area is...
area and used extensively in the 19th century. Because the material was difficult to carve, it was predominantly used for warehouses and the foundations of public buildings. Significant bluestone buildings include the Melbourne Gaol
Melbourne Gaol
The Old Melbourne Gaol is a museum and former prison located in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It consists of a bluestone building and courtyard, and is located next to the old City Police Watch House and City Courts buildings...
, HM Prison Pentridge
HM Prison Pentridge
HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison built in 1850 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997....
, St Patrick's Cathedral
St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis J. Hart. The building is known internationally as a leading example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture.In 1974 Pope Paul VI...
, Victoria Barracks
Victoria Barracks, Melbourne
Located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, Australia, Victoria Barracks Melbourne is of architectural and historical significance as one of the most impressive 19th century government buildings in Victoria, Australia.-Pre-World War II:...
, Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, Deaf Children Australia
Deaf Children Australia
Deaf Children Australia is a charity that supports young deaf and hard of hearing people in Australia.Formerly known as Victorian Services for Deaf Children, Deaf Children Australia was founded in the Victorian capital of Melbourne in 1860. The offices are in an excellent Gothic Revival building...
and Victorian College for the Deaf
Victorian College for the Deaf
The Victorian College for the Deaf , located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, Australia, is Victoria's oldest deaf school, opening in 1860. It currently provides education in Auslan, the language of the Australian Deaf community, from prep through to year 12...
, Royal Victorian College for the Blind, the Goldsborough Mort warehouses (Bourke Street
Bourke Street, Melbourne
Bourke Street is one of Melbourne's best known streets. Historically been regarded as Melbourne's "second street", with the main street being Collins Street and "busier than Bourke Street" is a popular catchphrase. Bourke Street has traditionally been Melbourne's entertainment hub...
) and Timeball Tower
Williamstown Lighthouse
The Williamstown Lighthouse is situated at Gellibrand Point, in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown. It was erected in 1852, and replaced earlier navigational aids established from the time of the first settlement in 1835. Built of local basalt, the unusual square plan form is the second oldest in...
. It was also used extensively for cobblestone roads, many which still exist in some of Melbourne's smaller lanes as well as walls, bridges, curbs and gutters in many of the inner suburbs. Some examples of structures that use the material include Princes Bridge
Princes Bridge, Melbourne
Princes Bridge, originally Prince's Bridge, is an important bridge in central Melbourne, Australia that spans the Yarra River. It is built on the site of one of the oldest river crossings in Australia. The bridge connects Swanston Street on the north bank of the Yarra River to St Kilda Road on the...
and Federation Wharf and Hawthorn Bridge
Hawthorn Bridge
Hawthorn Bridge crosses the Yarra River five kilometres east of Melbourne connecting Bridge Road and Burwood Road. It was designed by Francis Bell and is the oldest extant bridge over the Yarra River....
. Because of its distinctive qualities, post-modern Melbourne buildings have also made use of nostalgic bluestone, including the Southgate complex and promenade in Southbank, Victoria
Southbank, Victoria
Southbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located direct south of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the...
and apartments such as the Melburnian.
It was also sourced in many other regions of the Victorian volcanic plains and used in towns and cities of central and western regions including Ballarat, Geelong, Kyneton, Port Fairy and Portland
Portland, Victoria
The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...
.
Bluestone buildings in Adelaide
In South AustraliaSouth Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, the name bluestone is given to a form of slate which is much less durable than Victorian bluestone, but was valued for its decorative appearance. The interior of the stone is usually pale grey or beige in colour, but is given attractively coloured surfaces by ferric oxide and other minerals deposited in joints and bedding planes. The slate is laid in masonry with the mineralised surfaces exposed. Bluestone was most popular from about the 1850s to the 1920s, quarried in the Adelaide Hills
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...
at Dry Creek
Dry Creek
-Communities:Australia*Dry Creek, South Australia, a suburb of AdelaideUnited States*Dry Creek, Alaska in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area*Dry Creek, Louisiana in Beauregard Parish*Dry Creek, Oklahoma in Cherokee County...
, O'Halloran Hill (formerly Tapley's Hill) and Glen Osmond, and a number of other places in rural areas.
In New Zealand
TimaruTimaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
bluestone is an attractive building material, used both historically and to the present. It is a grey basalt similar to Victorian bluestone, quarried near Timaru in the South Island. Bluestone from near Kokonga in Central Otago
Central Otago
Central Otago is the inland part of the New Zealand region of Otago in the South Island. The area commonly known as Central Otago includes both the Central Otago District and the Queenstown-Lakes District to the west....
is also widely used, and is the main construction material (often with facing of Oamaru stone
Oamaru stone
Oamaru stone is a hard, compact limestone, quarried at Weston, near Oamaru in Otago, New Zealand.The stone is used for building purposes, especially where ornate moulding is required. The finished stonework has a creamy, sandy colour...
, a local compact limestone) in many of the notable historic buildings in the southern South Island, most of which were constructed during the financial boom following the Central Otago gold rush
Central Otago Gold Rush
The Central Otago Gold Rush was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand...
.
Prominent structures to use this combination include Otago University Registry Building, Dunedin Law Courts, and Dunedin Railway Station
Dunedin Railway Station
Possibly the best-known building in the southern half of New Zealand's South Island, Dunedin Railway Station is a jewel in the country's architectural crown. Designed by George Troup, the station is the fourth building to have served as Dunedin's railway station...
. Similar construction using Timaru bluestone was used for Christchurch Arts Centre
Christchurch Arts Centre
The Christchurch Arts Centre is a hub for arts, crafts and entertainment in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the neo-gothic former University of Canterbury buildings, the majority of which were designed by Benjamin Mountfort...
.
External links
- Examination of the conflicting theories relating to the Stonehenge bluestones
- Enigma of the Stonehenge Bluestones and the Preseli Hills
- Wessex Archaeology's Bluestone information
- How American bluestone is quarried
- Pennsylvanian bluestone
- Article on Cultured Bluestone
- History of Shenandoah Valley Bluestone
- Secrets of the Preseli Bluestones
- Inside Nielson Magazine
- A Brief Geologic History of Rockingham County
- Dig Pinpoints Stonehenge Origins