The stone that survived the blitz

This is the scene looking towards what would be now the central library off Guildhall Square, Portsmouth.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Dec 2016, 06:00 GMT
Updated 14th Dec 2016, 14:06 GMT
The foundation stone laid in 1886. It survived the blitz on the Guildhall in 1941.The foundation stone laid in 1886. It survived the blitz on the Guildhall in 1941.
The foundation stone laid in 1886. It survived the blitz on the Guildhall in 1941.

The occasion was the setting of the foundation stone for the new town hall.

When Portsmouth was raised to the status of a city in 1926, it became the Guildhall.

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The new town hall, built at a cost of £137,098, was opened by the Prince of Wales on August 9, 1890.

October 14, 1886, and the setting of the foundation stone for the new town hall, later the Guildhall. Picture: Barry Cox Collection.October 14, 1886, and the setting of the foundation stone for the new town hall, later the Guildhall. Picture: Barry Cox Collection.
October 14, 1886, and the setting of the foundation stone for the new town hall, later the Guildhall. Picture: Barry Cox Collection.

The foundation stone had been laid four years earlier by the mayor, Councillor Alfred Blake, on Thursday, October 14 1886.

Cut from Withed Quarry, Portland, it weighed two-and-a-half tons. Beneath the stone was buried a scroll signed by all the council. The white building seen to the rear/right of the photograph is the premises of a Shepherd & Son, railway carriers.

This building would be roughly where the Central Library is today.

Related topics:PortsmouthPrince of Wales