Coade Stone

Had a very pleasant walk this morning along the Promenade at Portobello and Joppa, which allowed me to blip the three columns, which are made from Coade Stone.

Coade Stone was invented in the 1770s and in fact is not actually stone at all. It’s actually ceramic, a mixture of clay, terracotta, silicates and glass that would be treated for four days in very hot kilns. The recipe was only discovered in the 1990s - at the time, it was closely guarded by its inventor, the sculptor and businesswoman Eleanor Coade. 

She sold the stone to some of the leading architects of the day from what seems to have been the only artificial stone business to have succeeded out of a cluster of the 18th century equivalent of start ups. 

It goes without saying that she was a rarity as a successful female business owner at a time when most women didn’t even had the right to their own property or money, and Coade - who never married - was an ardent supporter of women’s rights.

Other examples of Coade Stone include Buckingham Palace gates and Brighton Pavilion.

Don’t say, you don’t learn anything from blip, lol.

I hope you are having a good Sunday.