Blandford: St.Leonard's Chapel, ST89068 06478 (lead author: JT)
St. Leonard’s Chapel is within Blandford Forum itself, listed as East Street (north side). It is very difficult to find, but the locals tell you to go to the fire station and walk down the footpath beside it to the back, where the chapel is hidden in a housing estate at 14 Chapel Gardens, Blandford Forum. The 12th century chapel has recently been restored for use as an office. The walls are of flint, with quoins, banding and dressings of buff sandy limestone from the Chilmark area of Wiltshire
(Chilmark Main Building Stone). The picture (right) shows the Chilmark Stone in the door arch and window/tracery.
(Chilmark Main Building Stone). The picture (right) shows the Chilmark Stone in the door arch and window/tracery.
The Chilmark Main Building Stone is the same geological age as the limestone from the Isle of Portland, but it contains a high proportion of fine quartz sand and very few fragments of fossil shell. The greenish buff colour comes from scattered fine grains of the mineral glauconite.
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