National Stone Centre

The National Stone Centre is a museum and industrial heritage discovery centre on the edge of the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire. It sits in the Derbyshire Dales on fifty acres of former quarries and mines. Six disused stone quarries, over a hundred old lead mineshafts and four lime kilns mark the landscape. The site is close to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. The centre’s Story of Stone exhibition explains how stone shaped the region’s history. Visitors can buy rocks and minerals in the centre’s shops or stop at the café. Courses in dry stonewalling and other stone crafts run regularly throughout the year. Paths wind past the old quarries and kilns, showing how stone was once worked. Views open across the surrounding countryside of the Peak District. The lime kilns stand as reminders of the area’s industrial past.