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Description: | Limestone from the Jurassic Period (135-195 million years ago) has been quarried from the Isle of Portland for centuries. It was used extensively during the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666, and was the main construction material in St Paul's Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament.
In Grimm's day, the stone was extracted by groups of maybe three to five men, each group working on a self-employed, "piecework" basis. The more rock extracted, the more money earned. The work was, unsurprisingly, incredibly difficult and demanding, with no advance in technology to make the task easier until well into the 19th century. | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Source: | Collect Britain | Creator: | Grimm, Samuel Hieronymus | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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