Marvellous Marble

The limestones found across South Devon have a secret…when polished they reveal an array of colours , textures, and fossils. An industry developed around this stone, which became known as Devon Marble. This  was the subject of the talk at the Museum Society today. The first large-scale working of the local marble began at the start of the 19 century, soon after Daniel Woodley purchased ownership of the quarry at Petitor, Torquay. The family set up Woodleys marble works and began working the stone from the quarry. They made items of high-quality, winning a gold medal at the 1851 great exhibition. The marble works were based in St. Marychurch, Torquay. All that is left is the showroom above which is now part of the Babbacombe Corinthian sailing club. After the lecture I went to photograph it. When Prince Albert was visiting the area on the Royal yacht with Queen Victoria he was shown round the marble  works and subsequently placed a large order of marble work for Osborne house. For this they qualified for a Royal Warrant. The sailing club does not have the seal of approval from the palace so the Royal Warrant over the door is  painted white with a grey background.A goldfinch platter was made for Queen Victoria after this visit in 1852. The platter shows the wide array of colours available and the skill with which they were being worked. It ended up in the collection of Torquay Museum. See extra.