Structural and Technical Change in the Aberdeen Granite Quarrying Industry 1830–1880

Beginning with a brief analysis of the role of the railways in the extension of the frontier line of quarrying westwards from the city of Aberdeen in the 1850s, this article examines the major technical changes that occurred in granite quarrying particularly between 1865 and 1880. With the deepening of the workings, raising the stone to the surface became more difficult and was overcome gradually by the introduction of horses, steam cranes and Blondins. The pace of innovation was slow and it was primarily the larger concerns that invested quickly in the new technology. The paper then looks at the widening markets for stone, occasioned by railway bridge and viaduct construction and, more importantly, the rise of granite manufacturing in Aberdeen with its emphasis on building and monumental masonry, a development of long term importance. Finally it is shown that, as in the eighteenth century, the sources of capital, entrepreneurship and labour were mainly local in origin and the impact of quarrying on rural communities is assessed.

Archaeology · Capital (architecture) · Frontier · Geography · Masonry · Plucking · Toll · Engineering · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Scottish History and National Identity

• Post-Medieval Britain in Periodic Literature 1979

  Ian H Goodall•Post-Medieval Archaeology•1980

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