Portland stone
Portland stone has a creamy white in colour, weathering to a duller greyish brown.
Coombefield whitbed:
A tightly grained Portland stone with medium shell content. 'Clean stone' appearance.
Supplier: Perryfield (underground) Quarry, Isle of Portland. Portland Stone firms Ltd.
Perryfield whitbed:
A popular buff white stone with a medium to fine grained texture. Perfect for fine stone carving. This stone contains shell fragments in the size range 1mm to 5mm, it is known to be a durable building stone and has been used extensively in the United Kingdom, including in the restoration of Westminster Abbey in 1993.
Supplier: Perryfield (underground) Quarry, Isle of Portland. Portland Stone firms Ltd.
All our stone is sourced from natural stone quarries and our stonemasonry is all hand cut using traditional hammer and chisels.
Portland stone use in buildings
The aesthetics of this stone make it
the most popular stone. 
This sedimentery rock is the most
popular for stonemasons for its ease of carving, as well as with constructors for its durability
and aesthetics.
Stone synopsis:
Price:
Price for delivered quarried stone: £
Price per letter carved: £
Difficulty to carve:
Easy to carve. Getting fine detail is easy as up close it has a smooth texture, due to low shell content. This is the most popular stone among stonemasons.
Use:
Traditional stonemasonry for the above two stones. There are other variations within the bed that are used for flooring and cladding due to strength, rougher texture and higher fossil content.
Durability:
1mm to 3mm per 100 years.
Quarry (underground) location: Middle of Isle of Portland, East of village of Weston. Supplier: Perryfield Quarry, Portland Stone firms Ltd.
Tips:
Poor quality jointing to be avoided. Where the mortar (often based on hard ordinary Portland cement) is applied to the face only, leaving voids behind. The mortar-stone bond typically fails and hairline cracks develop, becoming more prominent with time.
Pros:
Easy to carve, the most popular colour/stone, great detail/definition.
Cons:
As it is a limestone, it shouldn't be waterlogged for a prelonged period of time as it will discolour the aesthetic of the stone.