Egglestone marble, also known as Teesdale marble, is one of a group of so-called sedimentary 'marbles', such as the better-known Purbeck and Tournai marbles, in which natural calcite cement has filled the original pore-spaces to such an extent that the stone is capable of receiving a high polish. Its merits include its attractive grey-brown surface finish when polished, its suitability when freshly quarried for detailed carving, and the fact that it is capable of being extracted in very large blocks and slabs. The description of the stone in this study is based on polished samples taken...