ABSTRACT
A building stone is a natural stone used in external or internal facing for a building as a load-bearing structural stone in construction or a stone used for paving or steps. This chapter provides an appreciation of the range and qualities of Victorian building stones. It also provides some perspective in the use of stone in Melbourne buildings, extending also to stones used from elsewhere in Australia and overseas. Slabs or blocks of rock used in buildings should be free of defects such as joints, as in time, failure along defects is likely if tensional stresses are present or if the rock is exposed to atmospheric weathering which can be expected to attack the stone along defects. A structural building stone must have sufficient strength to withstand indefinitely the stresses to which it will be subjected in the structure without fracture or failure.
