In 1843 William Cavendish, Lord Burlington (later to become seventh Duke of Devonshire) brought together all the independent groups of quarrymen to form Burlington Slate Limited. The company is still owned by descendants of the Cavendish family. Today, stone is cut from the quarry using diamond wires, a technique which is less damaging to the environment than the conventional process of blasting, and one which produces more usable material. Once extracted the stone is cut, shaped and finished by local craftsmen using both modern machinery and traditional techniques: our cleft or riven slates are still formed by the river working the stone along its natural grain.Quality comes naturally with a material 400 million years in the making and in converting that natural material to modern building components Burlington operates an ISO 9002 Quality Assurance system. [Detail]