Hyllestad quernstone quarries

Hyllestad quernstone quarries in the county of Vestland represent the oldest and one of the largest production areas for quernstones and millstones in Norway with approx. 400 quarries identified. The natural condition for the quernstone and millstone production in the area is the rock type garnet mica schist. The quarries are located from the shoreline up until approx. 200 m above sea level, but a majority is situated less than one kilometer from the sea and closest harbor. The quarries are well preserved, visible and most of them are easily accessible. In the Viking period and the Middle Ages, quernstones were shaped and carved directly from the bedrock, and in several of the quarries unfinished quernstones and millstones are still attached to the rock. The large scale production has since Viking times led to severe changes of the landscape. Quarries and spoil heaps are so densely situated that the original topography is not visible anymore. Two harbors are also identified. Here, large amounts of quern and millstones as well as ballast stones are located on the sea bed, testifying to the activity of loading and unloading that once took place here. From the 1600s, the production in Hyllestad started to decrease. In Early Modern period a new technology came into use in the quarries – the use of gunpowder. This production lasted until 1930. Thus, the quernstone quarries in Hyllestad represent an approx. 1200 years old history.

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