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Bath stone
- a honey coloured oolite limestone, good for dressing and
carving, but useless for paving, available from quarries in Somerset and Wiltshire.
Used in the Building of Bath when it was originally cheaper
than brick, thanks to an early rail system which transported
the stone. The quarries closest to Bath at Coombe Down, the
source of the original Bath Stone were developed as a business
venture by Ralph Allan mayor of Bath in 1742. His country mansion
Prior Park which overlooks the city, is now a school. Extensively fire damaged in 1984, it was
meticulously and, somewhat controversially, restored to the
condition it was in before the fire. The grounds are in the care of the
National Trust.