Weardale still gapes where the great limestone quarries have left their mark. Between Frosterley and Westgate the valley sides have been gouged for the prize of limestone. Road and railway building, cement, steel smelting, paint and toothpaste are just a few of the products which use limestone. Fonts, gravestones, lintels and hearths have been fashioned from Frosterley marble, the fossil rich 'marine band' in the limestone. Durham cathedral has many pillars and flagstones made from this black and white stone.

At one time hundreds of men were employed in the quarries not only for limestone but sandstone for building and roof slates, sand for castings in foundries, the volcanic Whin Sill for road setts and ganister for refractory bricks. Currently there are only two quarries working in the dale.

The quarries don't have the same legacy of records as the mines and to some extent the industry has been overshadowed in the popular imagination. There are few records of quarrymen leaving but we know that people came here to work in the quarries. Prisoners of war were sent here to work in the quarries and we have photos and other records of their presence.