Limestone from the Ham Hill quarry at Stoke-sub-Hamdon has been chosen for the rockery and rock pool which provides the focal point for the Potters' Retreat, part of a show garden at the Royal Horticultural Society Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

The show runs from Monday, July 1st to Sunday, July 7th and Potters' Retreat will be created by Marney Hall, one of the country's leading garden designers.

Potters' Retreat is the bottom of a larger garden where a traditional crafts person goes to try out new ideas surrounded by beautiful plants, pots and a natural environment.

Marney Hall says: "I chose Ham Hill limestone because it has such a beautiful, glowing honey-gold colour and a very attractive shape with flowing lines.

"It's ideal for a rock pool and I am sure will attract lots of admirers from the thousands of people that will the visit flower show at Hampton Court."

Mike Lawrence, the managing director at Ham Hill Quarry, says: "The staff at the quarry are delighted to be involved with such a prestigious event. Ham Hill in its long history has been used by many famous gardeners but this the first time at the Hampton Court Flower show."

Ham Hill is one of the country's oldest quarries where excavations began in the early 1500s.

The stone is extracted from the quarry without the use of explosives and the stone therefore retains its natural shape.

At the turn of the 19th century, Ham Hill was used by designers such as Harold Peto at Easton Lodge in Essex and Alfred Cart de Lafontaine at Athelhampton House in Dorset, which is reputed to have used 40,000 tonnes of Ham Hill stone in its construction.