Bargate stone is a highly durable form of sandstone. It owes its yellow, butter or honey colouring to a high iron content. In some contexts it may be considered to be a form of ironstone. However, in the context of stone buildings local to the extraction of Bargate Stone, the term 'ironstone' is often used to refer to a darker stone, also extracted from the Greensand, which rusts to a brown colour. Sources This stone was quarried for centuries in the Bargate Member of the Greensand Ridge, particularly where it is widest in south west Surrey, England. It occurs near the surface and was quarried in the hillsides near Godalming. Medieval quarries are still visible in Godalming, at the foot of Holloway Hill. Bargate stone is rare in current use due to its short supply. Bath stone, Yorkstone and other similar coloured stone is sometimes used as alternatives, or to complement it. Petrography Bargate stone is typically a mix of sandy bioclastic limestone and bioclastic standstone. The intergranular cements comprise ferroan carbonate. Use Bargate Stone is found in many buildings in Surrey, approximately 250 of which are listed, and in two churches in London. It is endemic to older buildings near the Greensand Ridge where it is found. Its 20th century use tended towards coursed use of Bargate sandstone with bricks, or concrete, sometimes with ashlar dressings or mortar rendering. Examples Early medieval The Keep at Guildford Castle. It was a credit to the strength of Bargate that it was chosen for the main structure, standing on top of the natural chalk and Bargate stone bedrock, made it available by quarrying in the locality. Godalming Parish Church, Grade I listed assisted by Saxon features. Church of St. Mary and All Saints, Dunsfold St Nicholas's Church Compton, Guildford (Bargate rubble used, mortar-rendered) Church of St. Mary the Virgin (12th century tower only), Oxted in Tandridge District, east Surrey St Mary's Church, (relevantly mostly in clunch from its own Quarry Street) Guildford St James's Church, Abinger All Saints Church, Witley, Surrey 16th Century Tillingbourne Cottage, Wotton, Surrey 17th Century Cosford Mill, Thursley 18th Century Leith Hill Tower 19th Century St Catherine's School/Drama Studio, Guildford St Stephen's Church, Gloucester Road, London (York stone parpoints and dressings in Bath stone) St Nicholas's Church, Guildford St Michael's Church, York Town, Camberley The Shah Jahan Mosque, completed in 1889 along with similar-coloured Bath stone, but a