Mauchline Sandstone was sourced from several clusters of quarries in, and near to, the town of Mauchline in Ayrshire. 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. Mauchline Sandstone was used locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, mainly to form masonry. Mauchline Sandstone is not quarried for building stone today.

Building Stone ID 10,016