The Heritage Centre located on the Main Street Opposite
the Post Office
is open as follows -
Monday 7.30pm to
9pm
Wednesday 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Saturday 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Other times for groups by arrangement Tel. 01847 821204
E.mail us at
Chairperson Muriel Murray, Borgie House, Castletown
Secretary John Crowden Brigga, Main Street, Castletown
Treasurer Maureen Cormack, Hayfield House, Castletown
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At present we are gathering and collating the
information and artefacts required to form an evolving archive in
Castletown. This will contain images and artefacts of the complete
history of Castletown and the parish of Olrig, from Neolithic times to
present day. We have currently a small exhibition centre on the village
main street, Opposite the Post Office and welcome all visitors to it.
The committee of volunteers main task at present is to catalogue and
preserve artifacts and images of the area. Also to seek funding to
provide a new multipurpose home for the Heritage artifacts.
The society has set up a trail around the site of the Flagstone Pavement
works, which were situated below the quarry and beside Castlehill
harbour. This location at the lower end of the quarry face enabled the
Flagstones to be moved down hill to be cut into smaller pieces prior to
be shipped out on schooners to all parts of Britain and many parts of
the world. The trail starts at the quarry face and shows the layers of
flagstone and how they are laid down in thin layers, which are easy to
split. The trail then proceeds past the lower half of the quarry
windmill, which pumped water from the bottom of the quarry into the dam
beside it, the water was then used to power a water wheel, which drove
the saws, which cut and trimmed the flagstones. After the flagstones
were cut into a regular shape they were transported by bogie track to
the harbour where they were stacked, ready for loading into a schooner
so they could be delivered to ports around Britain and many other parts
of the world. Flagstones from the Castletown Pavement Company were
shipped to cities as far apart as Sydney, Calcutta and Montevideo. Their
hardwearing surface is still today unsurpassed by modern materials.
Sheriff James Traill who pioneered the commercial exploitation of
Flagstone from Castlehill had a large mansion built overlooking the
harbour so he could watch as the flagstone was loaded and sent on its
way on the next tide. He also had a walled garden and a large area of
policy woodland planted around the house. Within this woodland he had
formed many paths so the ladies of the house could take walks in the
woods. Evidence of these walks still exists today.
The heyday of the flagstone industry in Castletown
was from 1814 to 1914. After this time the depression and the increasing
use of concrete led to the closure of the works and the scrapping of the
machines. At its peak the flagstone works and quarries in Castletown
employed over 500 people. Flagstone workers built the original part of
the village of Castletown as they were allowed to take home single faced
stone with which to build a house. Many of these houses still stand
today to the South of the main street. All but one of the local
quarries, of which there were six, have been filled in over the years.
The only working quarries in Caithness are located on
the West side of the county near Halkirk and beside Spittal. They employ
around 30 people each and are undergoing a recovery at the moment with
architects keen to use natural materials in their works. |