A Building Stone Assessment of sandstone in Iona Nunnery and at Carsaig quarry on Mull

This report presents the outcomes of a project commissioned by Historic Scotland to determine, using a combination of archival records and geological evidence, whether blocks of sandstone in Iona Nunnery (a Scheduled Monument on the island of Iona) came from Carsaig quarry (a long-disused quarry on the south coast of Mull). The report also considers the feasibility of sourcing new stone to use in future repairs to the nunnery from Carsaig quarry and from the remains of nearby Carsaig pier. Details of the most suitable commercially available stones from elsewhere in the UK are also provided, should it prove not possible or not practical to obtain new stone from Carsaig quarry or Carsaig pier

A building stone assessment of The Engine Shed, Stirling

This report describes the outcomes of a project commissioned by Historic Scotland to identify suitable stone to use in forthcoming repairs to the building known as The Engine Shed, in Stirling, which will become Historic Scotland’s National Conservation Centre. A Building Stone Assessment has been conducted on three samples of sandstone supplied by Historic Scotland – two from different parts of The Engine Shed and one from the recently demolished Seaforth Place Bridge in Stirling – with a view to assessing whether stone recovered from the demolished bridge could be considered amongst the closest-matching currently available stones and therefore a suitable replacement stone. This assessment has shown that stone from the bridge is amongst the closest-matching stones, and should provide a good replacement stone for walling and copestones in The Engine Shed provided weathered stone is first removed from the recycled blocks and any blocks required to perform a load-bearing function are subjected to a geotechnical test to confirm they are sufficiently strong. Drumhead sandstone, which is currently quarried near Denny, should also provide a good replacement stone

The building stones and slates of Killin : an investigation of stone for the built heritage

The village of Killin lies in an area of dramatic landscape and mountain scenery. The use of local stone in the buildings gives a direct connection to this landscape and reflects the local geology, comprising mostly metamorphic rocks of Precambrian age –dominantly limestone, meta-sandstone, mica schist and meta-igneous rocks. All of these (with the exception of the Loch Tay Limestone which was used for soil improvement) were used in buildings and structures within the Killin Conservation Area. The stone masonry in the village is classified into five categories; (1) cottages (mostly harled) built of random rubble from field and river boulders and surface rock outcrops, (2) two storey buildings with irregular coursed rubble walls of meta-sandstone and mica schist with large dressings of silver-grey slabs of actinolite schist, (3) and (4) larger late 19th century buildings with dressings of Central Belt sandstone used in combination with squared rubble walling of local actinolite schist and metasandstone. The 5th masonry category represents relatively late buildings constructed using distinctive imported stone types (e.g. whinstone, granite, red sandstone). These categories are broadly chronological in order and reflect the development of architectural form along with improving transportation of materials over time

East Dunbartonshire geodiversity audit

This report describes a geodiversity audit of East Dunbartonshire commissioned by East Dunbartonshire Council (EDC), funded by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and EDC, and carried out by the British Geological Survey (BGS). The audit began with a review of the available geodiversity documentation for East Dunbartonshire including BGS field maps, databases, digital aerial photography and publications, SNH SSSI and GCR documentation, and site information from the Strathclyde RIGS Group. An initial list of 59 sites with potential for geodiversity value was compiled from this information. A total of 36 sites from the initial list were visited and audited, most during March and April 2009. Information was recorded on the GeoDiversitY scoring system, developed by BGS. In this system, geological scientific merit, education value, community site value, cultural/heritage/economic importance, access, site fragility, potential are assessed. The GeoDiversitY system was accessed via digital data entry forms on the BGS SIGMA Mobile system running on a ruggedized field notebook PC. Of the 36 sites visited, 34 are recommended as Local Geodiversity Sites. These sites have a good geographical spread across East Dunbartonshire, encompassing both urban and rural areas. Together they show typical geological strata, structure and features of all the geological units present immediately beneath the surface of East Dunbartonshire and are representative examples of the Carboniferous sequence which underlies much of Central Scotland. The sites, chosen primarily for their geology, have revealed numerous links to the character of the landscape, historical structures, ecology, and the economic and cultural history of the area. Many of these sites could be enhanced to encourage visitors and students to learn more about the geology beneath their feet and how the geology, as the foundation of our landscape, has influenced the form and nature of what lies at the surface; from the inter-drumlin depressions which have created a wetland habitat to the ironstones and fireclays which were exploited as raw materials for the heavy industry which flourished around Glasgow, resulting in the development of large conurbations. This report will assist in future planning, development and conservation issues within East Dunbartonshire and form the basis of a Local Geodiversity Action Plan (LGAP)

A survey of building stone and roofing slate in Falkirk town centre

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has conducted a survey of the building stones and roofing slates in 172 buildings that lie within, and face onto, the Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) area in Falkirk town centre. The survey was commissioned by Falkirk Council and was conducted by the BGS Building Stone Team in January and February 2013. This report describes the outcomes of the survey. The report also has sections describing a brief assessment of historical quarrying activity in the Falkirk area and the results of stone matching for all the different building stones and slates recorded during the survey. The survey results are presented in this report as a set of maps, but the ‘raw’ survey data have been delivered independently of this report in a Microsoft Excel table and in a shape file suitable for GIS applications. A folder of digital images of the surveyed building elevations has also been delivered independently of this report. Twenty different building stones were recorded in the THI area: thirteen are buff sandstone, two are orange sandstone, one is limestone, and four are granite. All of the buff sandstones were sourced from Carboniferous strata that were laid down between 350 and 300 million years ago. Seven come from quarries in the Midland Valley of Scotland and six are from northern England