History

Caithness and Flagstone are words which go together quite naturally with the lands of Caithness as flat and smooth as the stone itself. They also share an impressive history of appreciation by ancient man. The first people to utilise flag' as a building material were prehistoric men, who quarried the stone to build among other things, impressive tombs, many of which can still be visited in Caithness today.

Caithness Stone is a unique material and can only be found in the far north of Scotland. The stone was developed over 400 million years ago in a shallow tropical lake, stretching from the far north of Scotland almost to Shetland. Geologically, the stone is classed as sandstone, but its fine particulate structure makes it more comparable with mudstone or siltstone with density and hardness akin to granite.

This resilience and resistance to wear has been appreciated in more recent times with the start of full scale commercial quarrying in Caithness almost 200 years ago. The stone first achieved the status of an industry in 1825. The genius behind the transformation was sheriff of the county, James Trail of Ratter. The first shipment of flagstone left the harbour of Castletown in 1825, which Trail latter enlarged and had bogie tracks lain to his nearby quarries to help improve his fast growing business. In 1840 he had a workforce of 100 men with an annual shipment of 27,870M2 (300,000ft2). In the matter of 15 years the population of Castletown had doubled.

Today Caithness flagstone is a dynamic industry using old techniques with new technology. The production of the stone is very fast, clean and efficient. Caithness Stone Industries pride themselves on quality and steadfast dedication in producing any specification within the materials capabilities and thrive the challenge of new uses of this well loved, versatile export.