Hopton Wood Stone

Hopton Wood Stone (also called Hopton-Wood Stone or Hoptonwood Stone) is a type of limestone quarried north of Hopton and west of Middleton-by-Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England.^[1]

The quarry was first owned by the Gell family and later by Hopton-Wood Stone Firms Ltd. The stone was called "England's premier decorative stone" and described as "remarkably and exceptionally pure limestone, almost identical to marble," with impurities at 0.02%.^[2][3]

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hopton as having "good building limestone, (which) is extensively quarried, and was the material of Chatsworth House and Belvoir Castle. Lead ore also occurs."^[4]

Following World War I, Hopton Wood Stone was used by the Imperial War Graves Commission to supply headstones, with over 120,000 being created and sent to war cemeteries in Britain, Belgium, and France.^[5][6] The limestone is said to have been laid in conjunction with a "native black stone" to create the first chequerboard floor in England.^[7]

It has also been used in decorative work, including the Houses of Parliament, the Bank of England, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Chatsworth House, Hopton Hall, the University of Oxford, several cathedrals, and Oscar Wilde's tomb, among others.^[8][9]

In 1947 the Hopton-Wood Stone Firms Ltd commissioned a book about Hopton Wood stone, published by Fanfare press.^[10]

Long connected to Middleton Mine direcrtly south on the Hopton Via Gellia, the sites were in operation from the 18th century onwards, the quarry system extracted "4-500,000 tons" of limestone a year until operations ended in 2006.^[11]

Desde el cierre de la mina Middleton y la cantera Hopton, la reputación de la piedra como una marca decorativa de primera calidad se ha mantenido. ^{[ 12 ]} Debido a la naturaleza de la piedra, la mayoría de los ejemplares aún son de alta calidad hoy en día. Se mantiene una reserva en el Centro Nacional de la Piedra para su reparación. ^{[ 13 ]} La mina Middleton se ha utilizado como lugar de rodaje para varias películas, incluyendo la franquicia Misión Imposible , Los Cuatro Fantásticos: Primeros Pasos y El Señor de los Anillos . ^{[ 14 ] [ 15 ]}

• Piedra de Hopton Wood