Dulcote Quarry

Dulcote Quarry

Dulcote Quarry, was a limestone quarry at Dulcote, near Wells on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. The quarry measures around 600 metres (2,000 ft) from West to East and around 350 metres (1,150 ft) from North to South, with an area of 18 acres (7.3 ha), which is surrounded by 80 acres (32 ha) of woodland.[1] The floor of the quarry is 61 metres (200 ft) to 67 metres (220 ft) above Ordnance Datum.[2]

The site has been used for quarrying since the mid 19th century.[3] The Foster Yeoman Company was founded at Dulcote, in 1923,[3] and later became part of Aggregate Industries. The site achieved an output of approximately 0.25M tonnes per year of Carboniferous Limestone, for general purpose construction aggregates.[4] Much of the stone was moved on a branch line of the Great Western Railway by an independent company which became known as Mendip Rail.[5]

A Geodiversity audit of the site was carried out in 2004, which highlighted the limestone strata and fossils identified.[6] These include Carboniferous Limestone overlain by Triassic Mercia Mudstones and Sandstones with geodes, which were formed by siliceous mineral replacement.[2]

In 2007 the quarry was bought by the Kilbride group a subsidiary of Kilmartin Holdings, which itself became part of Hansteen Holdings. When the parent company went into receivership the part owning Dulcote survived and has put the worked out quarry site up for commercial redevelopment with outline planning permission for a price of £1.5million.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ "Dulcote Quarry". Estates Gazette. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Dulcote Quarry site and the existing situation" (PDF). Somerset County Council. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  3. 1 2 "The Quarries". Dulcote. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "History — West Mendip Quarries". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Searl, Hugh; Jacob, Robin (1998). Foster Yeoman – The Rail Album: 1923-1998. Frome: Foster Yeoman Ltd. pp. 3–21. ISBN 0-948448-12-1.
  6. ↑ "Dulcote Quarry, Dulcote, Nr Wells" (PDF). Geodiversity Audit of Active Aggregate Quarries: Quarries in Somerset. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  7. ↑ "Quarry will not be affected by parent company's bankruptcy". This is Somerset. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "Dulcote Quarry For Sale, Wells, Somerset Offers Invited Over £1.5M". Development South West. Retrieved 6 September 2011.

External links

See also

Coordinates: 51°11′53″N 2°37′26″W / 51.19805°N 2.62395°W / 51.19805; -2.62395

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