Tyneham

In his article 'The use of Purbeck marble in mediaeval times', Dru Drury (1949) cites an example the material from the western vein of this 'marble' from the Purbeck Hills, "a part of a font base used in the pavement of a cottage garden at Tyneham, appears to be of a bluer colour than that further east and also to carry a higher proportion of large shells." This same example is reported in John Palmer's 'Database of Roman Purbeck limestone: Review' [work in progress -- last updated 2003-12-17, in www.palmyrauklinux.net visited on 9 March 2004]. The redundant church of St. Mary in Tyneham, Dorset, stands in the grounds used by the Army for artillery practice, although it is usually open for visits on weekends. The church has an octagonal mounted font just inside the entrance, but it appears modern. Though mostly Victorian now, the original church dates from the medieval period. [NB: would the font fragment noted above have been originally from this church?]