History & Timeline
James Traill
James Traill, born in Caithness, was the original pioneer for the new, commercial Caithness Flagstone industry. The image is the remains of one of his windmills that pumped water, used in the process to cut Caithness Stone into flagstones.
Export Begins – Boston Docks
From this year onwards Caithness began exporting Flagstone, a trade that would develop a global reach, including the Boston Docks in America. (The stone was often used as ballast in ships)
Fray Bentos – Uruguay
The world’s first industrial scale meat factory opened in Uruguay, near the Argentina border. Feeding half the world, this large complex was paved with Caithness Stone. The British brand name Fray Bentos came from the local town’s name. Now a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Marketing Brochure
An example of an early Caithness Flagstone marketing brochure
Workers in the 1880s
Caithness Flagstone workers moving stone by rail, with help from a horse and wagon. Individuals wearing flat caps were general workers. A bowler hat was worn by a foreman
Export Trade
Caithness Flagstone and other merchandise (salted fish), waiting to be uploaded to Schooners, destined for export markets
Caithness Flagstone Production
Diagram of Caithness Flagstone production, from 1858 to 1911. In 1902 output reached 35,000 tonnes, and the industry employed over 1,000 local people
Spittal Quarry Workforce
Some of the workforce from Spittal Quarry in Caithness – now owned by A & D Sutherland
First Mechanisation at the Spittal Quarry
Evidence of the first mechanisation for the Caithness Stone industry
A & D Sutherland founded
A & D Sutherland founded as a civil engineering company
A & D Sutherland purchases the Spittal Quarry
A & D Sutherland purchases the Spittal Quarry and focuses on the manufacture of Caithness Stone. (Image from 1970s)
Mark Mancini
Mark Mancini, MD of A & D Sutherland starts a summer job at Spittal Quarry at 16 years old. Mark joins the company full time in 2004 after completing university, becoming the third generation to work in the family business
Caithness Stone continued success
Caithness Stone continues to be specified for many prestigious projects in the UK and overseas, including the Queen Elizabeth II (9/11) Memorial Garden in New York; a welcome return to North America for Caithness Stone
A & D Sutherland Expands
A & D Sutherland acquires a local competitor, giving the company over 90% of Caithness Stone production capacity, with enough supply to last for centuries
The future of A & D Sutherland
A & D Sutherland continues to prioritise environmental goals, with two new and innovative renewable energy projects underway – a Cryo Battery storage facility and a Geothermal Well, the latter a first of its kind in the UK
Foundations
Founded by Alexander and Donald Sutherland, A & D Sutherland started out as a civil engineering company in 1954. Since 1966 we have owned and operated the Spittal Mains quarry, and our main focus is extracting and supplying Caithness Flagstone to the trade.
We are now in the third generation of family management and ownership.
Growth
Our Managing Director Mark Mancini started working in the quarry aged 16 years old as summer employment, before joining the company full time after completing university in 2004. Mark became a company director in 2008. Mark’s mother Elizabeth is still very active in the business.
Our company now operates from five quarries in the Sutherland region of Scotland. Our primary site at Spittal began as a quarry in the 1800’s. This quarry is situated at the centre of prehistoric Loch Orcadie and is the only sandstone-type Caithness Flagstone. Due to the flat beds at the centre of the basin, larger slab sizes are available because of very little land movement over the passage of time.
Here and Now
A & D Sutherland has supplied many prestigious building projects such as the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow, Rosslyn Chapel, the Scottish Parliament, the Royal Bank of Scotland World Headquarters, the Disney Store in Venice, and the Cutty Sark Museum in London.
We have an excellent workforce at A & D Sutherland. We are in a very fortunate position to have such a highly skilled and loyal workforce. We have a depth of knowledge and expertise when it comes to natural stone extraction and its many applications. In fact, 70% of our staff have been with us for over 10 years (90% for over 5 years). We continue to invest in our staff. For example when we purchased a competitor’s assets all staff were retained on continuous employment.
Looking to the future, we have plans to open five new quarries to develop an indigenous UK range of natural stone. This will help to create further employment opportunities in rural parts of the Highlands of Scotland.
Community
We are a responsible family business that provides valuable employment opportunities in a very rural part of the United Kingdom. Our region of Caithness has only 5 people per square kilometre. (The London equivalent figure is 5,701). As a responsible business we continue to be active in our local community, supporting local heritage and restoration projects, education, charities/not for profit organisations, local sports clubs, and many other good causes. The list below is some examples of local projects we support:-
- Education visits and field trips to our work premises for local schools
- Parts of our quarries are closed and maintained for educational purposes, such as geological and fossil fish research
- Teaching Traditional Masonry and Drystone Walling Techniques – annual training provided by some of our skilled staff and the donation of materials
- Inverness Housing Expo – donation of materials. (See “Products” section)
- Whaligoe Steps Refurbishment – donation of materials
- Caithness Horizon (local town hall) – donation of materials
- Thurso High School – donation of materials
- Castletown Heritage Centre – donation of materials
- Castle of Mey (the late Queen Mother’s northern residence) – donation of materials
- Spittal Village Hall – donation of materials
- John O’Groats Mill Restoration – donation of materials
- Ancient Broch project – donation of materials
- Local Golf Club – donations of materials
- Local Football Club – sponsorship
- Local Rugby Club – sponsorship
Inverness Housing Expo – donation of materials.
Contact
+44 (0)1847 841 239
Opening Hours
Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm
General Enquiries
mark@caithnessflagstone.co.uk