As early as 1860, there was a branch line, the Mountsorrel Railway, to the quarry, the path of which is still followed by a mineral conveyor to Barrow-upon-Soar, where quarry rock is sorted for distribution. Organised quarrying of the granite in Mountsorrel Quarry began in the late eighteenth century, and had around 500 employees by 1870. In 1872, the Mountsorrel Granite Company acquired the rights to quarry the area from the Broad Hill quarry, and a hospital had become established in the village to deal with those made ill by the dust created by the quarrying.