2020

NJ5221 : Correen Quarry

taken 3 years ago, 4 km WNW of Tullynessle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

This is 1 of 13 images, with title Correen Quarry in this square
Correen Quarry
Correen Quarry
There are remains of dykes here, so perhaps these are the remains of the quarrymaster's house.
Correen Quarry

Correen Quarry is at the summit of the old road between Tullynessle and Rhynie. It produced large slabs of stone that were used as building and pavement material.

The stone is pelite and belongs to the Suie Hill Formation. Pelite is rock that was originally mud, but has been lithified and then metamorphosed by heat and pressure during tectonic movements. As the temperature and/or pressure increase, the grade of metamorphism also increases and different minerals form, giving the rock different characteristics.

The particular outcrop at Correen Quarry contains the minerals cordierite and andalusite. The range of temperatures and pressures at which these minerals develop is known, so geologists can tell under what conditions the rock formed, and infer how deep in the crust of the Earth they were when they were altered.

The quarry lies on the Druminnor Estate, on the boundary of the ancient parishes of Forbes and Kearn. The proprietor of the quarry was Robert Grant of Druminnor (1804-1894). Robert was actually the son of Captain Alexander Foulerton and his wife Eliza Grant, a granddaughter of John Grant of Rothmaise, who had bought the estate from the Forbes family in 1770. Captain Foulerton adopted the surname of Grant. Robert married the Hon Elizabeth Forbes of Craigievar (1826-1890) and the castle eventually came back into the ownership of the Forbes family in 1954 when the estate was broken up and sold off.

The Statistical Account of the combined parishes of Forbes and Kearn (1794) does not mention any quarries, but the New Statistical Account (1845) says, 'On the estate of Druminnor there has lately been discovered a rather singular quarry, affording a hard and heavy stone, somewhat resembling granite in external appearance but (unlike granite) susceptible of being split into slabs of great thinness, and of almost any length and breadth. These form excellent pavements for footpaths around farm offices, or for the floors of kitchens or cellars.

The New Statistical Account of Tullynessle and Forbes (1845) also discusses the rocks, 'The rocks, it is believed, are all of a primitive character; granite, with its allies, gneiss and mica-slate. The second is not often to be seen in its most characteristic stratified form; and the most prevailing rock may be said to be one intermediate to gneiss and mica-slate. Perfect enough specimens of mica-slate are, however, to be met with. There are two quarries of this nature, which are worked to a considerable extent, for the purpose of furnishing pavement to halls and kitchens. The slabs found in them, more particularly in the one situated in Coreen, can frequently be procured of a very large size. One or two porches to farmhouses, which the writer has seen, and where each of the side walls consists of a single slab of about five feet in breadth, and nearly double the height, with a pavilion roof of the same material, have a very light and handsome appearance. The slabs are often used in place of wood for the water-courses of thrashing-mills, and sometimes in byres for the cattle’s stalls'.

The quarry is listed in the valuation rolls of Auchindoir and Kearn until 1885, but not in 1895 or later. The tenant of the quarry in every valuation roll where it appears was John McPherson.

John McPherson was born in 1801, the son of Martin McPherson, a blacksmith at Daviot in Inverness-shire, and his wife Elspet Mackintosh. His wife Elizabeth Forbes was from Rhynie, daughter of William Forbes and his wife Elspet Wright. In 1841 and 1851 they were farming in the area.

John and Elizabeth were recorded living at the quarry in 1861, 1871, when he is described as quarry master, and 1881, when he is described as a retired quarryman, and when Elizabeth Forbes or McPherson died at Correen Quarry in 1888, her husband was described as a retired granite quarry master. in 1891 John McPherson was in lodgings in Lumsden, where he died in 1897, described as formerly quarry master.

All this suggests that the active economic life of the Correen Quarry was only about four decades. It was in existence, and evidently regarded locally as rather special, when the New Statistical Accounts were written in 1845, but the quarry master had retired by 1881 and the last mention of the quarry in the valuation rolls is in 1885.

There is also a description of the quarry at LinkExternal link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Anne Burgess and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Quarrying, Mining
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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Grid Square
NJ5221, 27 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Anne Burgess   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Thursday, 5 November, 2020   (more nearby)
Submitted
Sunday, 8 November, 2020
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NJ 5214 2129 [10m precision]
WGS84: 57:16.7834N 2:47.7265W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NJ 5221 2129
View Direction
WEST (about 270 degrees)
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SW S SE
Image Type (about): geograph 
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