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Report - - Emborough Quarry - Emborough, Somerset - August 2020 | Mines and Quarries | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Emborough Quarry - Emborough, Somerset - August 2020

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Adaminski

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I didn't have much hope in this explore prior to turning up...wasn't even sure I'd be able to get in at one point - but this one turned out to be a pearler! Probably the best one I have done in a while...but fiiiirst, a little background.

HISTORY
Emborough Quarry is a dormant quarry and has been since I have no idea when. The limestone quarry is separated into two areas by an impressive 7-arched viaduct..unfortunately it is impossible to glimpse it in full nowadays due to how overgrown this area is. But the tram-line connecting the 2 quarries is very much intact. Along the top of the viaduct would have been the Somerset and Dorset railway.

The quarry was owned by the Emborough Stone Co. and registered in 1907, mining roadstone. This company was one of the original partners of the Roads Reconstruction Ltd in 1934. It continued to operate until after World War II.

Since its closure it has had various uses including military training (of which I could find no evidence unfortunately), waste recycling and concrete product manufacture. The latter still takes place today by the Penny Group which overlooks the western quarry. Unfortunately I don't have a photo but the building has a St. Georges Cross flying from it indicating the most northern part of the quarry is still very much in use. The eastern quarry appears to currently be used for machinery storage too - as we'll see later.

It was declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1971 due to the myriad of fossils found there including a reptile with flappy wings. The quarry is considered unlikely to ever reopen, though technically it still could.

EXPLORE
So at first I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it into this one, but a quick bit of google mappage yielded some possibilities and in the end it was easy enough. I dropped down into the somewhat sparse western quarry. There isn't a great deal of interest here aside from the tramline which I later found out connects the two sites. According to a sign I found on the ground this side of the quarry is known as quarry 2; or lake quarry...this was the most interesting feature here aside form a pretty cool tram bridge...


865456


I kept following the tramline round and came across the viaduct into the next quarry which is when things started to get interesting!

865469


865459

Hand operated track switch - probably doesn't work does it?....Oh yes it does. It works just like the day is was installed and for the rest of the day every time I passed one I couldn't help but throw the lever over.. CLUNK. Very satisfying.

865458

Where the magic happens

I found it very interesting to see how it all came together - it gave a real insight into how it all works. It is possible to climb the structure in the picture and in doing so I found a control room.. Have a look at this control panel... It gives a bit of an overview as to what is happening where. The storage bins are housed in the building on the tall building in the middle and is trans with a batch conveyer to the building on the right which houses the mixers and weigh bins.

865460


More from the control room...


865461



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And below you can see the mixers with what I think are the weigh bins above

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Here you can see where the aggregate would be dropped before making its way up the conveyor and into the storage bins seen here

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View of the eastern quarry...

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As you can see from the view above there is all sorts of interesting garbage strewn around the basin of the quarry...

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A hamster wheel obviously

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Sweet ride

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The honeywagon


It was at this point in the explore I got rudely interrupted by a 4x4 approaching. So I did the brave thing...and hid in a bush. The chap got out with a clipboard a spent a bit of time in the shed below - I believe because it is used as machinery storage for the businesses up the road. I guess he was taking an inventory but I was surprised because it seemed like an odd thing to do on a Sunday arvo. He then did a tour of the entire eastern quarry as though he was looking for something... anyway, soon enough he drove off and I was left alone again to roam freely.

865485


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There are so many more photos I could post here but I think I've dragged this out long enough. If you have made it this far then very well done. I don't have any medals on me but that doesn't make you any less deserving!

I would thoroughly recommend a visit to Emborough Quarry...A proper photographer would have an absolute field day here.. Unfortunately I don't have the patience for it myself but hope to see some decent pics from one of the 28DL crew soon...

Cheers
 
Last edited:

Adaminski

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Cheers folks, glad you enjoyed. Dead pleased with that explore and would totally go back
 

westernsultan

Banned
Banned
Emborough Quarries (grid reference ST623505) is a 1 hectare (2.5 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Emborough in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1971.

The disused quarry has yielded a wide variety of remains of vertebrate fossils, amongst which the early reptiles are particularly well represented. Of special note is Kuehneosaurus latus which is one of the earliest-known flying vertebrates. During the Triassic period of geological time, some 230 million years ago, the limestone now exposed on Mendip formed upland areas upon which a number of large rivers rose. Solution cavities were soon created in the land surface and material from the surrounding area was swept into the newly formed cave systems. Remains of the creatures living in the upland areas during this time were swept into these deposits and have now been exhumed by recent quarrying activities. Fresh material is brought to the surface with every rock fall and Emborough Quarries are a nationally important source of fossil vertebrate remains for research and study.

This former Mendip quarry site, probably owned by Emborough Stone Co., a branch of Roads Reconstruction, Ltd., where iron ore was once mined is now home to an assembly of contractor's plant (possibly of Richard Wood (Engineering) Ltd), cranes, narrow gauge railway equipment and machine tools. It is the location of a Somerset and Dorset Railway seven arch viaduct. The site was previously used by the Emborough Brick Co for making clay bricks. The internal railway system is listed as being 2 ft 6 in
 

Zeeejh31

28DL Member
28DL Member
We tried to get in today, drove around and tried a couple of gaps in some of the fences with no luck :( dying to get some pictures of this!!
 

Steevgee

28DL Member
28DL Member
I didn't have much hope in this explore prior to turning up...wasn't even sure I'd be able to get in at one point - but this one turned out to be a pearler! Probably the best one I have done in a while...but fiiiirst, a little background.

HISTORY
Emborough Quarry is a dormant quarry and has been since I have no idea when. The limestone quarry is separated into two areas by an impressive 7-arched viaduct..unfortunately it is impossible to glimpse it in full nowadays due to how overgrown this area is. But the tram-line connecting the 2 quarries is very much intact. Along the top of the viaduct would have been the Somerset and Dorset railway.

The quarry was owned by the Emborough Stone Co. and registered in 1907, mining roadstone. This company was one of the original partners of the Roads Reconstruction Ltd in 1934. It continued to operate until after World War II.

Since its closure it has had various uses including military training (of which I could find no evidence unfortunately), waste recycling and concrete product manufacture. The latter still takes place today by the Penny Group which overlooks the western quarry. Unfortunately I don't have a photo but the building has a St. Georges Cross flying from it indicating the most northern part of the quarry is still very much in use. The eastern quarry appears to currently be used for machinery storage too - as we'll see later.

It was declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1971 due to the myriad of fossils found there including a reptile with flappy wings. The quarry is considered unlikely to ever reopen, though technically it still could.

EXPLORE
So at first I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it into this one, but a quick bit of google mappage yielded some possibilities and in the end it was easy enough. I dropped down into the somewhat sparse western quarry. There isn't a great deal of interest here aside from the tramline which I later found out connects the two sites. According to a sign I found on the ground this side of the quarry is known as quarry 2; or lake quarry...this was the most interesting feature here aside form a pretty cool tram bridge...


IMG_7503.JPG


I kept following the tramline round and came across the viaduct into the next quarry which is when things started to get interesting!

IMG_7549.JPG


IMG_7511.JPG

Hand operated track switch - probably doesn't work does it?....Oh yes it does. It works just like the day is was installed and for the rest of the day every time I passed one I couldn't help but throw the lever over.. CLUNK. Very satisfying.

IMG_7509.JPG

Where the magic happens

I found it very interesting to see how it all came together - it gave a real insight into how it all works. It is possible to climb the structure in the picture and in doing so I found a control room.. Have a look at this control panel... It gives a bit of an overview as to what is happening where. The storage bins are housed in the building on the tall building in the middle and is trans with a batch conveyer to the building on the right which houses the mixers and weigh bins.

IMG_7529.JPG


More from the control room...


IMG_7525.JPG



IMG_7527.JPG


And below you can see the mixers with what I think are the weigh bins above

IMG_7535.JPG


Here you can see where the aggregate would be dropped before making its way up the conveyor and into the storage bins seen here

IMG_7543.JPG


IMG_7544.JPG


View of the eastern quarry...

IMG_7538.JPG


IMG_7547.jpg


As you can see from the view above there is all sorts of interesting garbage strewn around the basin of the quarry...

IMG_7562.JPG


IMG_7566.JPG

A hamster wheel obviously

IMG_7572.JPG

Sweet ride

IMG_7568.JPG

The honeywagon


It was at this point in the explore I got rudely interrupted by a 4x4 approaching. So I did the brave thing...and hid in a bush. The chap got out with a clipboard a spent a bit of time in the shed below - I believe because it is used as machinery storage for the businesses up the road. I guess he was taking an inventory but I was surprised because it seemed like an odd thing to do on a Sunday arvo. He then did a tour of the entire eastern quarry as though he was looking for something... anyway, soon enough he drove off and I was left alone again to roam freely.

IMG_7574.JPG


IMG_7580.JPG


There are so many more photos I could post here but I think I've dragged this out long enough. If you have made it this far then very well done. I don't have any medals on me but that doesn't make you any less deserving!

I would thoroughly recommend a visit to Emborough Quarry...A proper photographer would have an absolute field day here.. Unfortunately I don't have the patience for it myself but hope to see some decent pics from one of the 28DL crew soon...

Cheers
Hi, recently spent the morning here, beautiful place and well worth a visit.
 
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dejay89

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
We went to this with the help and info from Adaminski as only a 30 min drive from me.

we had a good few hours here and was very quiet! will upload all the photos later just thought id add these to here as there is a couple of bridges that where made for the railway but never used. (pic of the water from thequarry number 2?) and pics from top of the railway/viaduct bridge

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912607
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Lord Oort

Fear is the little death
Regular User
@dejay89 Have fixed your photos for you, you didnt click the 'Insert All' button.

Have a read of this thread for more info

 

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