Tenants from North Ronaldsay were relocated to work the quarry by their Laird in the mid 1800’s as the population of their home island had become too large. The quarry workers could use the tools at their workplace to produce fine dressed stone to construct their own houses. Looking at the remains of the quarry workers cottages today, their fine stone lintels are obviously superior to the average Eday croft house of the time.
Geologically the rock cut here is Lower Eday Sandstone formed during the Middle Devonian Period (around 394–383 million years ago).
