History
The Carboniferous Limestone beds around Buxton have been subjected to widespread extraction and processing since post-medieval times. In the mid-C18 production was industrialised, a process which was aided, in the Wye Gorge, by the building of the Midland Railway line in the 1860s. The earliest recorded workings at Cowdale were in 1870 when, it is understood, the kilns were built, although there is some debate as to whether they were built later in the C19. The quarry did not appear on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps until the early-C20, and a railway link to the quarry first appears on the 1924 OS map, but the industrial complex had been enlarged and extended around the railway by 1909 by Buxton Lime Firms. The Power House, gate houses, entrance buildings and subsidiary structures were added to the site at this time, positioned on graduated terraces cut into the rock face. The quarry finally closed in 1954 when it was understood to be the last site to use traditional, coal-fired shaft kilns in Derbyshire. The particularly pure limestone in the vicinity of Buxton makes quarrying an important industry still.
The site was first scheduled in October 2011.
Explore
This was a fun one to explore, completely missed the entrance and ended up in Cowdale along one of the steepest roads I’ve been on, in the rain. If you’re going down make sure you know where to go before setting off, could’ve saved 30 mins of trekking around a sketchy road in the rain.
The structures in the woods are like something out of starwars with the trees taking back over the abandoned structures. The site is smaller than I thought it was and it was a fairly long drive to get there. From looking at over peoples reports I think I’ve missed some of the site, just a good excuse to go back there soon. Overall it’s definitely worth a trip and I can recommend it.
The Carboniferous Limestone beds around Buxton have been subjected to widespread extraction and processing since post-medieval times. In the mid-C18 production was industrialised, a process which was aided, in the Wye Gorge, by the building of the Midland Railway line in the 1860s. The earliest recorded workings at Cowdale were in 1870 when, it is understood, the kilns were built, although there is some debate as to whether they were built later in the C19. The quarry did not appear on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps until the early-C20, and a railway link to the quarry first appears on the 1924 OS map, but the industrial complex had been enlarged and extended around the railway by 1909 by Buxton Lime Firms. The Power House, gate houses, entrance buildings and subsidiary structures were added to the site at this time, positioned on graduated terraces cut into the rock face. The quarry finally closed in 1954 when it was understood to be the last site to use traditional, coal-fired shaft kilns in Derbyshire. The particularly pure limestone in the vicinity of Buxton makes quarrying an important industry still.
The site was first scheduled in October 2011.
Explore
This was a fun one to explore, completely missed the entrance and ended up in Cowdale along one of the steepest roads I’ve been on, in the rain. If you’re going down make sure you know where to go before setting off, could’ve saved 30 mins of trekking around a sketchy road in the rain.
The structures in the woods are like something out of starwars with the trees taking back over the abandoned structures. The site is smaller than I thought it was and it was a fairly long drive to get there. From looking at over peoples reports I think I’ve missed some of the site, just a good excuse to go back there soon. Overall it’s definitely worth a trip and I can recommend it.
