Pearson's Granite Quarry (United Kingdom)

What is today known as Pearson's quarry opened in 1808. It was advertised for sale in 1826. Edward Storey took over the quarry in 1880 from the Gunnislake Granite Co. He erected buildings for polishing and dressing the granite. The stone was mostly excavated by hand as the quarry was close to the houses and they had to be very careful when blasting. One man would hold a hand drill known as a 'jumper' whilst two others would hit it alternately with a sledgehammer.
The stone was shaped and polished. In a day a skilled worker could cut ten feet of kerbstone from rough granite weighing nearly a ton or fashion 70 to 80 paving stones. In its heyday the quarry employed 700 people. The quarry yielded hard fine-grained granite which was used in Devonport Dockyard and the fortifications around Plymouth.
The quarry was closed in 1896 but in 1898 it was taken over by S. Pearson & Son. They supplied stone for the breakwater in Dover. They built a railway branch to connect with the East Cornwall Mineral Railway and had a quay at the bottom of the incline in Calstock so that the stone could be transported on the Tamar. The locomotive 'Ada' was purchased from the Calstock viaduct contractors. There were lots of sidings in the quarry including one which crossed the main opening on two granite pillars and led to a small quarry to the south known as Hardwall Quarry. This quarry was worked by Thomas Westlake between 1896 and 1902.

Information Calstock History Society