Beneath the hill's quartz-dolerite layer is a layer of Murrayshall Limestone. There is evidence that the limekilns in the area have been in production from about 1790 into the 20th Century, producing lime to be used in building mortars, iron production and agriculture. The limestone, calcium carbonate, was roasted with coal in the Murrayshall, Craigend, and Cambusbarron kilns (respectively: at the south end of Gillies Hill, eastward up the Bannock Burn and north of Cambusbarron) to produce calcium oxide (quicklime), followed by the production of calcium hydroxide in slaking pits - and was then spread on agricultural fields.