The exploiting of stone in Cumbria dates back to the Neolithic period
when volcanic rock from the high Lakeland fells was worked to make hand
axes. In Roman times sandstone was extensively quarried for building
Hadrian's Wall and forts like Carlisle. The industry expanded in the
Middle Ages as stone was needed for high-status buildings like castles,
tower houses and monasteries as well as for bridges and, later on, for
dry-stone walls and road building. Cumbria has a wide variety of rock
types that proved suitable for building and other uses, and quarry
workings, large and small, can be found across the county. Countless
abandoned quarries exploited limestone, sandstone, flagstone, slate,
granite, sands and clays and gypsum, and quarrying was a major local
industry in the fells, along the west coast and on the Pennine edge. For
many centuries, men laboured in difficult and dangerous conditions, in
all weathers and in very remote locations, to supply increasing demands
for stone products, many of which were exported. Some quarries still
operate today, supplying markets across the country. The story of how
stone was won is an important part of our disappearing heritage: this
book explores the rich legacy of quarrying across Cumbria.
