Limestone

  Limestone is a hard sedimentary rock (formed by the deposit of minerals on the earth's crust within water) and is made up of minerals, calcite and aragonite - different crystal forms of calcium carbonate. Generally limestone is made up of the broken up remains of shells from animals that inhabited the water, as well as other living organisms like coral. These fragments have been deposited on water beds over millions of years to form a hard compressed rock. By volume, limestone accounts for about 10% of all sedimentary rock. Where does Limestone come from? There are countless limestones in existence around the world, even in Britain where it is generally found in the Peak District and the Cotswolds. It was the Romans who first discovered that you could polish British limestone into what they called Marmoro, which gave rise to the Italian word Marmo for marble. British limestones can be found in a range of colours including blacks, pure whites, greys, purples and greens. Unfortunat