Resting on windswept moors and in shady woodlands throughout the Peak District are more than a thousand abandoned millstones, covered with lichen and moss, weather-worn and often hidden to all that pass by. Lawrencefield is one of the places where you can find hundreds of them!

These huge stone ‘wheels’ are so synonymous with the Peak District that ornamental versions grace every sign on key routes into the National Park, and the millstone features as the logo for the Peak District National Park Authority.

Quite incredibly, these huge stones were quarried by hand! The quarrying would have involved hand-drilling holes in the rock, inserting metal plates into it, and driving wedges between the plates to split the rock. It was a hard job, and a typical two-man team would probably have only been able to quarry 20 stones per year. Many of the stone masons were farmers as well, quarrying during the quieter times in the farming calendar.

The Derbyshire Peak District produced more millstones than all other millstone-making areas in Britain put together, with records of quarries going as far back as 1257. It was renowned for centuries as being the epicentre of millstone production. The best type of stone for making millstones was coarse and rough, to create the necessary friction to grind the grain. Gritstone is perfect for this, and an integral part of the geology of northern parts of the Peak District.

But why were they abandoned? Right up until the 18th Century, millstones made from millstone grit were in great demand and business was brisk. Then, two things changed. Firstly, at the start of the 18th Century white bread became more and more popular, which required finer flour and composite blocks of chert (a type of quartz) were introduced – the Peak District stones suddenly had significant competitors. Secondly, in the late 19th Century machines became more commonplace in the mills. They allowed high-speed grinding and thus subjected the millstones to more wear.  The millstones made from gritstone wore down quickly, and required re-cutting regularly – again, the chert composite stones proved to be far superior. The introduction of these composite stones spelled the end for the Peak District millstone.  In many areas the industry died out very swiftly; so quickly that the half-finished stones were simply left in their incomplete state on the moors, or abandoned where they lay awaiting transport to their destinations.

There are estimated to be around 1,500 millstones scattered throughout the Peak District. Most are located within a few miles’ radius of the villages of Hathersage, Curbar and Baslow, where the gritstone was in plentiful supply on the surrounding moors and edges. The Lawrencefield ‘millstones’ are some of the most well-known and photographed, even though they are actually pulp stones and were most likely used for grinding wood pulp for paper in the late 19th Century, rather than the earlier milling stones used for grain.

Regardless, Lawrencefield is a large collection of stones well worth a visit, and the surroundings are pretty magical too. Once you know where it is, it’s easy.to find. When you reach the field with some scattered millstones (across the road from Surprise View), take the path going down into the quarry. Once down, turn right along the path rather than left towards the quarry! We didn’t know this and ended up wandering around for quite some time, almost giving up as the light started fading and we headed back. As we reached the path to climb back out of the quarry, I took one more look a few paces the other way and found it.

Despite being an unnecessary detour, the quarry is also beautiful and the undulating birchwood groves provide a magical landscape to explore.

To visit, we parked in a layby on the B6521 (53°18’40.0″N 1°37’05.5″W). There are steps from here leading down to the river that runs through the gorge, cross the bridge and head more-or-less straight to pass Owler Tor, or more to the right to go around the tor, then follow the path alongside the road for a bit before going down into Lawrencefield. The (paid) Surprise View Car Park (53°19’02.0″N 1°37’23.4″W) is closer, and requires simply crossing the road and turning right in the adjacent field.
Included on the map is the walk to Padley Gorge. There is also more parking at either end of the gorge, near the ice cream van 53°18’57.8″N 1°36’50.4″W and in the town 53°18’15.3″N 1°37’31.6″W (paid),