Locharbriggs Sandstone was sourced from a cluster of quarries around the town of Locharbriggs, in Dumfriesshire. The stone consisted originally of wind-blown sand that was deposited as sand dunes in a desert environment during the Permian Period (c. 285 million years ago), when Scotland was at roughly the same latitude as southern Ethiopia is today. A tiny proportion of iron, which is in an oxidised (‘rusted’) state, gives the stone a rich orange colour. Locharbriggs Sandstone has been used locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, mainly to form masonry. Today, Locharbriggs Sandstone is extracted for building stone at one quarry.

Building Stone ID 10,014