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Nottingham
St Mary

Stonework

Local Triassic sandstone (Sneinton Formation, Mercia Mudstone Group) probably from the Sneinton or Gedling quarries – a fine grained yellow-brown sandstone – is found in many of the older parts of the building. It is notable in the tower and is clear in the original window mouldings when viewed from the roof access. It is a soft stone, cross-bedded with mudstone clasts, and does not weather well. It has commonly been replaced by a variety of other sandstones. The carved heads on the south nave wall seemed to be a mixture of this original sandstone and some re-carved replacements.

There is a notable amount of replacement with other Triassic sandstones from Hollington Quarries (still operating) and Alton Stone (Townhead Quarry). These quarries are not far apart and effectively working the same beds (Triassis, Sherwood Sandstone Group). The stones are similar, ranging from an off-white variety to red and creamy coloured varieties. Other replacement stones include hard pale grey Carboniferous sandstones, probably from the Ashover Grit of the Matlock area of Derbyshire. One of the principal suppliers of stone into the city in the 19th Century was the Stancliffe Darley Dale Quarry, but other sandstone quarries operated nearby and the stone from these is largely indistinguishable from the Darley Dale stone. Some window mouldings on the south side of the church (Lady Chapel) do appear to be partly replaced with coarsely crystalline orange-brown Bulwell Stone (Permian, Lower Magnesian Limestone-now known as Cadeby Formation).

In the Chancel and Sanctuary the coarsely grained fossil floor stone is a crinoidal limestone known as Derby Fossil. The green floor marble with white veining is probably French Campan Vert from the Pyrenees.