Historic sandstone pavement in the New Town of Edinburgh : a study of materials and paving patterns

Hyslop, Ewan K.; Hamilton, Sarah L.. 2007 Historic sandstone pavement in the New Town of Edinburgh : a study of materials and paving patterns. Nottingham, UK, British Geological Survey, 148pp. (CR/07/148N) (Unpublished)

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Abstract/Summary

The New Town of Edinburgh is acknowledged as one of the finest examples of designed urban architecture in Europe. The use of local sandstone has given the area a distinctive character −not only the buildings but also related elements such as boundary walls, pavements, entranceways and other features of the historic streetscape. Almost all of the original sandstone paving was removed from public footpaths in the late 20th century and replaced by concrete paving slabs. Future streetscape projects plan to reinstate natural stone paving. To date there has been little if any detailed appraisal of the original sandstone paving used historically in Edinburgh. This study provides a documentation and analysis of these paving patterns and materials in order to provide information to assist the future specification of appropriate natural stone paving. Only a fraction of the original sandstone paving survives in the Edinburgh New Town, mostly in areas which were fortuitously preserved such as back lanes, and as a few larger areas mostly adjacent to prestigious public buildings. Eighteen locations of historic sandstone pavement have been identified and described, and a number of representative sections (seven lanes and six street pavements) selected for detailed survey to record the geological characteristics of the stone and produce measured drawings of paving patterns. The surveys provide a detailed record of the nature of representative areas of original historic pavement in the Edinburgh New Town. Forty samples of paving stone were collected from historic pavements, which on the basis of geological characteristics can be divided into four types of original sandstone; ‘Hailes’, ‘Craigleith’, ‘Central Scotland sandstone’ and ‘Angus flagstone’, and two types of modern replacement stone; ‘Yorkshire sandstone’ and ‘Caithness Flagstone’. All of the quarry sources of the original sandstones are now closed and supplies are no longer available. Comparison of the historical stone types with the currently-available replacement sandstones show that they are quite different in geological make-up and character. By far the most commonly used historical sandstone paving in the Edinburgh New Town is Hailes sandstone, formerly obtained from quarries on the western outskirts of the city. This stone has distinctive characteristics giving it particular properties and appearance which are different from most currently-available sandstones today. In order to obtain future supplies of sandstone paving that have characteristics compatible with historic paving types, two courses of action are proposed. In the short term, it may be possible to identify substitute replacement stone types from existing sandstone quarries currently operating in northern England producing stone with some similar properties to Hailes sandstone. Secondly, future supplies of local stone of the same characteristics as the historical material could be secured by reopening former quarries or opening new quarries in adjacent geological formations. A resource assessment exercise is required to identify potential sites to the west of Edinburgh and in Central Scotland to determine whether the re-starting of sandstone pavement production is possible. Because the potential market for this product is likely to extend beyond Edinburgh, it is recommended that the Scottish Stone Liaison Group become involved in coordinating this work.

Item Type:	Publication - Report
Programmes:	BGS Programmes > Geology and Landscape Northern
Funders/Sponsors:	Edinburgh World Heritage, Edinburgh City Council, British Geological Survey
Additional Information:	This item has been internally reviewed, but not externally peer-reviewed. Report made open with permission from Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH) and Edinburgh City Council (ECC).
Date made live:	06 Nov 2025 18:25 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/540520

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