Dulcote Quarry

Dulcote Quarry is a disused 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][2]

Dulcote Quarry in 2006

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 the Cheddar Valley Line (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.^[7][8]

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 put the worked-out quarry site up for commercial redevelopment with outline planning permission for a price of £1.5 million.^[9][10] In 2016 the site was bought for development as a food production site for Charlie Bigham's,^[11] which opened in 2017.^[12] In March 2022, a multi-user path (part of the Strawberry Line) connecting the end of the Wells-Dulcote railway path at Dulcote underpass to the quarry entrance was officially opened.^[13]

References

1. "Former Foster Yeoman Quarry, Dulcote Wells Somerset BA5 3PY". Acuitus. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
2. "Dulcote Quarry, Wells". Russell. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
3. "The Quarries". Dulcote. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2007.
7. "History — West Mendip quarries". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
8. Roche, David. "Geodiversity Audit of Active Aggregate Quarries Quarries in Somerset Project Overview Report". Retrieved 20 September 2017.
9. "Quarry will not be affected by parent company's bankruptcy". This is Somerset. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
10. "Dulcote Quarry For Sale, Wells, Somerset Offers Invited Over £1.5M". Development South West. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
11. Bury, Rhiannon (16 May 2016). "Ready-made meal producer Charlie Bigham's buys Somerset quarry site for new base". Telegraph. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
12. Dinkovski, Noli (30 October 2017). "Ready meals manufacturer to create 50 jobs". Food Manufacture UK. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
13. Wyke, Ros (11 March 2022). "New section of the Strawberry Line Opens - Mendip Matters - 11th March". Wells Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 5 September 2022.

External links

• Mineral data for this quarry from mindat.org

See also

• Quarries of the Mendip Hills

51.19805°N 2.62395°W / 51.19805; -2.62395