Ailsa Craig Granite was sourced from at least one quarry on Ailsa Craig, an island in the Firth of Clyde (Ayrshire). The stone comes from a small, cylindrical intrusion that formed in response to widespread melting in the crust beneath the west coast of Scotland during a phase of rapid opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. The melting and emplacement of magma happened during the Palaeogene Period (around 60 million years ago), when Scotland was at roughly the same latitude it is today. Ailsa Craig Granite was used locally (on Ailsa Craig) to form masonry, and was used regionally, nationally and internationally to form curling stones. Ailsa Craig Granite is not quarried for building stone today, but blocks are still recovered from the island to form curling stones that are exported around the world.

Building Stone ID 10,117