The quarries in this village, and in that of Allemagne, on the opposite
side of the Orne, supply most of the free-stone, for which Caen has,
during many centuries, been celebrated. Stone of the finest quality is
found in strata of different thickness, at the depth of about sixty feet
below the surface of the ground. If worked much lower, it ceases to be
good. It is brought up in square blocks, about nine feet wide, and two
feet thick, by means of vertical wheels, placed at the mouths of the
pits. When first dug from the quarry, its color is a pure and glossy
white, and its texture very soft; but as it hardens it takes a browner
hue, and loses its lustre.
In former days this stone was exported in great quantity to our own
country. Stow, in his _Survey of London_, states that London Bridge,
Westminster Abbey, and several others of our public edifices were built
with it. Extracts from sundry charters relative to the quarries are
quoted by Ducarel, who adds that, in his time, though many cargoes of
the stone were annually conveyed by water to the different provinces of
the kingdom, the exportation of it out of France was strictly
prohibited, insomuch that, when it was to be sent by sea, the owner of
the stone, as well as the master of the vessel on board of which it was
shipped, was obliged to give security that it should not be sold to
foreigners.
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