Locharbriggs Sandstone

Locharbriggs (or Dumfries) Sandstone was formed during the early Permian when Scotland was close to the equator and desert-like conditions prevailed. it was a popular building stone in the 19th and early 20th Centuries and is still quarried near Dumfries, Scotland. Locharbriggs Sandstone is fine to medium grained with a variable porostity of 18-25% and is composed of well-sorted quartz grains coated in iron oxide and cemented by silica, the iron oxide gives Locharbriggs its distinctive red colour.

It also contains clearly defined bedding/lamination structures where clay minerals are concentrated. Locharbriggs is a durable stone and tends to weather by granular disintegration or bedding-plane erosion. However if face-bedded it is prone to delamination.