Scotland's building stone industry: a review

Scotland has one of the richest legacies of traditional (pre-1919) buildings and other stone structures of any country in the world, but the building stone industry that created that legacy is now a small fraction of its former size and struggling to survive as the use of imported stone continues to grow. This report presents an objective review of the building stone industry in Scotland today. It includes: a brief synopsis of its history; evidence of its current fragile state, and the threat this poses to the historic and natural environments; an analysis of the potential for the industry to grow, and the benefits that a stronger indigenous industry could bring; a description of factors that are holding back its development (‘barriers to growth’); and a list of practical steps that can be taken by the industry and other stakeholders to encourage and facilitate growth.