The stone
Red sandstone from the Eden Valley
Lowthian Stone is a red sandstone quarried on our own land at West Brownrigg Farm, Plumpton, a few miles north of Penrith. It is the same red Permian sandstone that gives the villages round Plumpton and Lazonby their colour.
Colour and character
The colour runs from warm salmon to brick red, with the odd buff or pink piece in a load, and no two stones are quite the same.
Freshly split faces are bright. The colour settles as the wall weathers, which you can see on the houses in the gallery.
How it's worked
The stone is lifted from the quarry floor and split along its natural bed. Squared pieces with a dressed face go into bags as facing stone. Smaller random pieces are bagged as walling stone. The larger pieces are set aside as rough block for masons and stone yards to cut and dress themselves.
Everything is sold by weight or by the bag, and it all crosses the weighbridge on the way out.
The quarry
A small working quarry on a family farm. Hugh Lowthian runs it alongside Lakeland Logs & Charcoal on the same land.
There is no shop and no yard staff. Ring Hugh to fix a time and he will show you the stone. Builders, wallers and self-builders are all welcome, as are architects and conservation officers who need to match the local red sandstone.