The Royal Festival Hall was officially reopened by HM the Queen on 9 October 2007.
From the programme: “The new plaque unveiled by her Majesty the Queen this evening is made of Purbeck stone, a beautiful English limestone from Dorset’s World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Renowned for its individualistic qualities by every stonemason working in England from Roman times, through the Middle Ages to the present, each bed of Purbeck stone has its own character and evocative name such as Thornback, Spangle and Feather. Purbeck stone adorns virtually every cathedral in the South of England and it was the stone of choice for repaving the streets of London after the Great Fire. A small piece of Purbeck therefore seems an appropriate companion to the walls and floors of the Royal Festival Hall, already sheathed in fossilised limestone from Derbyshire. From its birth in a warm Jurassic sea to the wall outside Spirit Level this plaque is as much part of British History as the Royal Festival Hall itself.’
