Lugnås Minnesfjäll

Lugnås Qvarnstensgruvan - Millstone Quarry in Lugnås

Useful Information

Location:	Lugnås, 10 km southwest of Mariestad.
Open:	MAY to 24-JUN Sat, Sun 12-17. 25-JUN to 14-AUG daily 12-17. 15-AUG to 30-AUG Sat, Sun 12-17. [2007]
Fee:	Adults SEK 50, Children (0-18) SEK 25, Family SEK 125. Groups (+): Adults SEK , Children (3-18) SEK . [2007]
Classification:	Millstone quarry
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	T=7 °C.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Ingemar Beiron (2006): The Millstone Quarry »Minnesfjället« in Lugnås, Sweden, in Mühlsteinbrüche. Erforschung, Schutz und Inwertsetzung eines Kulturerbes europäischer Industrie (Antike-21. Jahrhundert), Internationales Kolloquium Grenoble - 22. bis 25. September 2005, Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 2006. ISBN 978-3-88467-105-4.
Address:	Qvarnstensgruvan Minnesfjället / Lugnås, c/o Börje Larsson, Lugnås Stora Myren, 54294 Mariestad, Tel: +46-501-40686. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

12th century	start of mining.
1850	became biggest industry in Mariestad.
1919	last mine closed.

Geology

The millstones were made of a certain kind of suitable gneiss rich in feldspar and kaolin.

Description

According to tradition the first millstones were made at the Lugnås Qvarnstensgruvan (Millstone Quarry at Lugnås) by Cistercian monks who came here in 1147. As mostly with historic mines, the quarrying started open cast and the remains can be seen all over the hills. Later the millstone makers followed the best layers underground. This is one of a few underground millstone mines in Europe open to the public. However, the statement this were the only one is not true.

But Lugnås might be one of the biggest millstone mines, more than 800 years of quarrying left 600 open castmines and 55 underground mines, and kilometre long heaps of discarded stone. In the mid 19th century the quarrying of millstones was the biggest industry in Mariestad, bigger than all other industries together. At this time more than 500 people worked at the quarries. Many millstones were sold abroad, mostly to Scandinavia and Germany, a few stones as far as Turkey and North Africa. Clever shippers used the stones as balast to balance the boat, and when they reached their destination they sold them and replaced them with other heavy goods.