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Dry Brook Quarry
Been a bit of talk about this one so heres a report.
How hard is it to find history of a quarry? pretty hard it seems.
The quarry is owned currently by Hanson & is Quarry Number 484.
This was used for mining Drybrook limestone from 1868 until 1918.
A archaeological report taken in 1989 prior to extension of the quarry notes..
"Limestone may of been dug from the top of the hill to supply a pre 20th century lime kiln which was located at the North West corner of the site."
shot from around 1969
An exposure of Crease Limestone was noted by Paul Wildgoose in the south-east corner of Drybrook Quarry. Recent quarry workings have destroyed all evidence of surface mining. The quarry may originally have been an iron ore mining site / scowle. Backfilling to create gardens and building sites for the houses of Hawthorns Road has also obscured any evidence which may have existed for surface working of iron ore.
By the late 1870s, when many quarries and lime kilns had been abandoned, limestone was still worked north of Drybrook. One quarry there was served by a railway in 1870 and was worked by the county council in 1910. The Drybrook quarries, which were idle in the mid 1920s, were served by the Forest's railway system from 1928 until 1953 and included tarmacadam works by 1942. The main quarry was enlarged considerably be Amey Roadstone Corporation after 1960 and in 1989 it employed 25 men and produced among other things crushed aggregates for the building industry and lime for agricultural use.
Cant remember much about this explore other than it was quite serene & peaceful down there on a beautiful summer day, though you could occasionally hear dog barks & voices from the footpath atop the cliff face.
All in all a rather nice bit of industrial stuff IMO. so on with the pics
Few from the business end of things
Moving on we get into "the control room"... Not exactly Battersea power station I know.
[
TBH for me this place was mainly about the scale & the views though.
[
Thats another one ticked off... better late than never.
Been a bit of talk about this one so heres a report.
How hard is it to find history of a quarry? pretty hard it seems.
The quarry is owned currently by Hanson & is Quarry Number 484.
This was used for mining Drybrook limestone from 1868 until 1918.
A archaeological report taken in 1989 prior to extension of the quarry notes..
"Limestone may of been dug from the top of the hill to supply a pre 20th century lime kiln which was located at the North West corner of the site."
shot from around 1969
An exposure of Crease Limestone was noted by Paul Wildgoose in the south-east corner of Drybrook Quarry. Recent quarry workings have destroyed all evidence of surface mining. The quarry may originally have been an iron ore mining site / scowle. Backfilling to create gardens and building sites for the houses of Hawthorns Road has also obscured any evidence which may have existed for surface working of iron ore.
By the late 1870s, when many quarries and lime kilns had been abandoned, limestone was still worked north of Drybrook. One quarry there was served by a railway in 1870 and was worked by the county council in 1910. The Drybrook quarries, which were idle in the mid 1920s, were served by the Forest's railway system from 1928 until 1953 and included tarmacadam works by 1942. The main quarry was enlarged considerably be Amey Roadstone Corporation after 1960 and in 1989 it employed 25 men and produced among other things crushed aggregates for the building industry and lime for agricultural use.
Cant remember much about this explore other than it was quite serene & peaceful down there on a beautiful summer day, though you could occasionally hear dog barks & voices from the footpath atop the cliff face.
All in all a rather nice bit of industrial stuff IMO. so on with the pics
Few from the business end of things
Moving on we get into "the control room"... Not exactly Battersea power station I know.
[
TBH for me this place was mainly about the scale & the views though.
[
Thats another one ticked off... better late than never.
