Evidence of this can be seen in the many sandstone churches dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. Stone-working remained a craft skill until the mid-19th century, when mechanisation began taking over. Råbäcks Mekaniska Stenhuggeri was a stone-working business founded by Carl Klingspor in 1888. Its main products were building materials cut from red and grey limestone.
These included stairways, flooring, windowsills, friezes and portals, as well as tombstones, feed troughs, garden stone and much more. Around the turn of the century 45–50 people worked here, half of them in the quarry, and it is quite easy to imagine the place bustling with life and activity. As recently as the mid-1960s around 10 stonemasons were still employed in the workshops.
Demand then fell off and the business closed down in 1970. Thirteen years later, in 1983, the stoneworks became an industrial heritage museum and the old workshops with their original machinery were given listed building status in 1983. Altogether the stoneworks has a very comprehensive range of machinery.
Hitta Hit
