The sign above at Corfe Castle tells you what you need to know. This limestone is made of marine snails and can be polished. Not a true metamorphic marble but it can be polished. What really struck me was that it is from the Cretaceous period. That means it is about 200 million years younger than the Carboniferous limestones round here. In that time, Britain has drifted north and gone through the period of desert climate that resulted in the brockrams of the Eden Valley.
In Wantage Parish Church I came across two effigies of knights which showed that the Purbeck Marble can indeed be polished.
