Marble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite which is a crystalline form of calcium carbonate. It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material and in many other applications.
Pure white marble is the result of the metamorphism of very pure limestones. The characteristic swirls and veins of many coloured marble varieties are usually due to various mineral impeurities such as clay, silt, sand, iron oxides or chert which were originally present as grains or layers in the limestone.
Green colouration is often due to serpentine resulting from originally high magnesium limestone or dolostone with silica impurities. These various impurities have been mobilized and recrystallised by the intense pressure and heat of the metamorphism.
Today, marble has very many applications in the commercial and domestic world including tiles, wall cladding, flooring, kitchen worktops and splash backs, bathroom surfaces, pub bar tops, restaurant tables and worktops, fire places, water features, headstones and gravestones.
Below are examples of some of our most popular marble designs