Worth looking into: Europe's largest man-made hole up for sale at £30,000

The owners of Europe's biggest man-made hole are selling it for offers over £30,000.

Aberdeen's Rubislaw quarry is going on the market for the first time in 150 years and could soon be bought as a diving site.

For sale signs were due to up on the hole, which is 142 metres (466ft) deep, in the hope of attracting offers today.

Worth looking into: Aberdeen's Rublislaw quarry is going on the market for the first time in 150 years

But yesterday the purpose of the quarry for its current owners Bixen Ltd remained a closely-guarded secret.

The five-acre site based in the west end of the city is filled with water, fenced in and hidden by trees.

But it was once a bustling of scene of activity with six million tonnes of granite excavated for buildings all over the world.

Granite taken from the quarry - which was closed in 1971 - was used to build the city's Marischal College, Europe's second largest granite building, London's Waterloo Bridge and the terraces of the Houses of Parliament.

Chartered surveyors AB Robb Ltd, who are marketing the land on behalf of its owner, said: 'This is definitely one of the most unusual sites we have been instructed to sell. It is well known throughout the city but very few people by comparison will have seen it.

'It offers up intriguing possibilities for any buyer whether in the leisure, tourism or residential business areas.

Uses: Granite from the quarry was used to build London's Waterloo Bridge, pictured here in 1924

'Ideas mentioned so far have included draining it to create some kind of leisure destination in the quarry area, possibly a climbing facility, or even keeping it filled with water and using it for water sports such as recreational diving.'  

The quarry was opened in 1740 at the Hill of Rubislaw and sold back to original owners the Skene family in 1778 for £13 because it was not thought to be a good source of building material.

However, notable architects John Smith and Archibald Simpson went on to construct some of Aberdeen's best-known buildings from the stone in the early 19th century.

And it was also exported to be used in the Sebastopol docks, the New York Opera House and a temple in Japan.

The overall site is 7.3 acres - the size of 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools and has been filled with water for the last 50 years.

According to the Gazetteer for Scotland, Minerologist Matthew Forster Heddle noted the quarry as a locality for fine specimens of the minerals tourmaline and beryl.

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