Western Daily Press (Saturday)
How London arch could be returning to the West
AN archway made of stone from a West quarry beloved of the world’s most celebrated architects is going full circle and being returned to Dorset.
In the 17th century when Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt St Paul’s Cathedral following the Great Fire of London he elected to use Portland stone.
Parts of Buckingham Palace, Exeter Cathedral and even the United Nations headquarters in New York were made from stone extracted from Portland.
And while it is usually a one-way journey when stone leaves a quarry, now a substantial installation could return, 100 years after it was dug up.
Campaigners battled to stop the demolition of a branch of Barclays Bank made from Portland stone in 1924 on London’s famous Fleet Street.
Though they lost the battle, the seven-metre tall archway had to be carefully removed - stone by stone and now it could return to a tourist attraction at a disused quarry on the island.
The move has been suggested as part of proposals for improvements to the island’s quarry sculpture park and nature reserve.
Plans are also under way for improving the existing pathways from Priory Corner by the Memory Stones circle, and installing geological interpretation areas within the park as part of a ‘green corridor’ plan.
The ideas come from the Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust and have been put forward in a planning application to Dorset Council.
It suggests placing the arch, which
came from the Barclays branch at 80-81 Fleet Street, just beyond the tunnel entrance to the park from Wide Street.
The arch is currently in pieces, each numbered, and can be reassembled by experts using traditional mortars.
It was previously a bank until being demolished to make way for a
City of London Corporation plan for a new 18-courtroom complex, tenstorey police station and an office block.
A planning document outlining the Tout Quarry proposals said: “The view through the architrave (archway) will frame the quarry railroad tunnel linking to the wider Quarry Park and the Portland Coastal Path.
“The proposed development fulfils a long-standing commitment in establishing a visible arrival point to the Portland Quarries Nature Park.”
The park trust was formed in 1983 to save Tout Quarry from further mineral extraction and to set up the sculpture park covering more than 40 acres which now features more than 60 works of art alongside spaces where nature is encourage to regenerate the area.