Limestone has been worked here from the 9th century (and reputedly from Roman times), and the quarries provided stone for the Salisbury Cathedral. Stone extraction changed from open quarries to underground working in the Middles Ages. The quarries closed in 1935 when demand for limestone fell due to the increased use of concrete for building purposes,
The quarries and the surrounding land were bought by the Air Ministry in 1936 and an ammunition and bomb depot was established here as RAF Chilmark, see ST9730 : Former Site of RAF Chilmark. During WW2, the larger of the two mines become one of the most important munitions storage sites in the country. When required for deployment to strategic airfields the bombs would be taken from the mine on the depot's narrow gauge railway which ran south along the valley to a rail transfer station at Ham Cross and then onto the main line at Dinton. RAF Chilmark closed in 1995 and after the site was cleared of explosives, the quarries re-opened.
