Book excerpt: Whether they are still operational or long abandoned, quarries are often dismissed as eyesores. Despite this, they can be fascinating to visit, and provide an interesting link to a once powerful and necessary industry. Although the Romans worked quarries, it was not until the middle-ages that the industry became established on a large scale. It then achieved its height during the nineteenth century in response to industrialization and the associated demand for stone. The book deals with the extraction methods of various types of stone and the rise and slow decline of quarrying across the UK. While telling the history of quarrying it also covers some of the most famous and notable quarrying sites.