Rubislaw Quarry was opened in 1740. It is situated at the
Hill of Rubislaw in the west end of the Scottish city of
Aberdeen. The quarry was sold to a businessman by the
Aberdeen city council in 1778 as it doubted it would be a source of good building material.
Over the next 200 years an estimated six million tonnes of granite would be excavated from the quarry, giving Aberdeen the name of 'The Granite City'. At one point in time Rubislaw Quarry was the biggest man made hole in Europe, but it was closed in 1971.
Today, the fine grey granite from the quarry is visble in the majority of Aberdeen's buildings, but the quarry itself has been closed down. Although the quarry is 130m deep and has a diameter of 120m it has been neglected. The quarry itself has been closed off with fences and can only be glimpsed by clambering through some unused amenity land and peering through the fence. It has never been marketed as a tourist attraction, indeed there are no signposts and you would not be aware of the quarry's existence if you were not local.
The quarry is still a breathtaking site, it is hard to believe that such a vast hole exists in the middle of Aberdeen's plush west end. Thus despite the true depth of the quarry being hidden as it is full of water, just looking down the sides of the deep quarry gives you the feeling that it is another world down there.