Where to find the equivalent of Scoutmoor paving now in the UK

Scoutmoor Yorkstone has been a premium British sandstone traditionally specified for heavily trafficked public-realm paving because of its exceptional strength, durability and slip resistance. The stone has been used to pave many streets of London and many other towns and cities throughout the UK. This stone has historically been produced by Marshalls but in November 2025 they announced they were discontinuing it once remaining stocks run out. 

What is Scoutmoor paving? 

Scoutmoor is a fine-grained Carboniferous sandstone from the Millstone Grit series, quarried at Scoutmoor Quarry near Edenfield and Ramsbottom in Lancashire. It is generally blue-grey or green-grey, with some brown bands and markings.  

It has been used mainly for: 

Technical performance data for Scoutmoor

These are strong figures for sandstone and explain why Scoutmoor has been widely accepted for town centres, transport schemes and heavily used paved areas. 

The important current position

Marshalls now states: Scoutmoor is being discontinued, with supply subject to remaining stock availability. 

The truth is that Marshalls lost the contract to extract Scoutmoor a number of years ago after a disagreement with the landlords. Over the last few years to try to supply the market Marshalls have created a blend of stone from a number of their own quarries to emulate the look of the traditional Scoutmoor colour. Marshalls achieved this by supplying a blend of Appleton and Whitworth sandstones, which give the same general colour and appearance as the traditional Scoutmoor.  

As Marshalls has now stopped UK stone production, they are no longer supplying this blend to the market. Therefore, Marshalls is recommending Hawks View sandstone as its alternative. Hawks View is a brown-and-grey sandstone from India, so although it may satisfy certain technical and aesthetic requirements, it is not a direct British-stone replacement.  

This means specifications naming Scoutmoor now carry a procurement risk and we advise that specifiers should now specify Stoneworld Appleton as the closest alternative to the original Scoutmoor paving: 

Scoutmoor versus Stoneworld Appleton

Stoneworld Appleton Yorkstone paving is the material Stoneworld offers as a British alternative, particularly for councils, streetscape contractors and projects previously specified in Scoutmoor, it is the next best equivalent. There are other alternatives, for example Forest Pennant from the Forest of Dean stone but since Scoutmoors demise this stone has doubled in the price offered to the market and lead times have increased dramatically up to 24 weeks. Stoneworld Appleton is maintaining a far more realistic price and keeping to a 12 week lead time. There is also a Spanish alternative called Norland sandstone that has the characteristics of Scoutmoor and is less expensive than the British alternatives and has a lead time as good as Stoneworld Appleton where projects are looking for a value-engineered option.

Stoneworld Appleton Sandstone Technical Performance Data

This technical data shows that Stoneworld Appleton is a strong, durable British sandstone that can be used for paving in commercial and heavily trafficked environments. 

Stoneworld Appleton yorkstone paving is a British sandstone alternative capable of meeting many of the traditional performance requirements associated with Scoutmoor paving, subject to project-specific technical approval. It is not being sold as an identical Scoutmoor replacement but as the next best equivalent, to help prevent the market being flooded by non-indigenous alternatives and lower-quality materials.