The stone from the “Edges” in the Derwent Valley has in the past been use for making millstones. They were exported long distances, often by sea, from the ports on the river Trent. Baslow and Hathersage were the main centres of production.
One of the millstone quarries on Gardoms edge, overgrown with oak trees and showing the discarded stones covered with moss. It might have been abandoned when the industry collapsed 200 – 300 years ago and has remained untouched ever since.
A millstone propped up by the stonemason but left as useless because part of the rim broke off.
A millstone with an incomplete edge, lying infront of an old spoil heap
Another nearly completed millstone. The round top suggests that it was made earlier than the one with a flat top shown in the next picture
The winter sunset lights up this flat millstone lying in front of a old oak tree and a spoil heap.
The screes under Curbar Edge were made by the masons who tipped unwanted debris down the slope. They also made many oft he rock faces while extracting blocks of stone.
The millstone industry declined from the 1700s, mainly because better and cheaper stones became available.
But some quarrying continued. The Bar quarry above Baslow provided stone for local buildings well into toe 1900s.
Baslow History 