Bowers Quarry/Mine is an active stone quarry on the west side of the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. The quarry is operated by Albion Stone and became the site of the first Portland Stone mine. In October 2002 the firm successfully initiated Portland's first ever underground mining operation, which was a precursor to Jordans Mine, which would start in 2008. [1] It has also been the selected site for the planned Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory.
The quarry has been in operation since the late 1700s, when it was made up of various small individual family run quarries. [2] In 1979 Albion Stone secured the lease for the quarry from the Crown Estate. From this time the quarry gradually extended south towards the Weston Estate. [3] Bowers had long become a deep quarry and, as a result of an 8-metre stand-off of untouched ground alongside the boundary and the gentle slope of up to 15 metres of overburden above the Portland Stone beds, a significant quantity of dimension stone was to be potentially wasted alongside the boundary.
In 1998 the firm received planning permission for the first Portland Stone trial mine at Bowers Quarry. As an experiment, the mining technique was to reduce the environmental impact of the stone industry on Portland. [3] The Bowers Mine trials began in 2002, and were completed in 2005. [4] In the spring of 2006 the High Wall extraction in Bowers Quarry commenced. [4] The extraction from Bowers Quarry today is completely underground through mining. Bowers is largely quarried for Bowers Roach, Whitbed and Basebed. [5] In 2005 Albion Stone revealed a new mining plan for the Jordans Quarry, which started in 2008 and was also a success. [1]
In 2013, Dorset County Council approved a new planning application, allowing Albion Stone to extend the existing mine under the playing fields to the south. The ground is now on a long lease from the county to Albion Stone and new portals have been dug into the faces of Bowers Quarry to access the extended area. These reserves of Portland stone are estimated to last 20–30 years. As part of the application, a phased restoration plan has been agreed covering the entire quarry. [6]
In 2006 the MEMO project was established by Sebastian Brooke. The project aims to create a Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory on the western clifftops at Portland - at Bowers Quarry. The monument is to pay homage to the world's extinct species. [7] The lease for the site was successfully agreed with the Crown Estate, and the project given the go-ahead by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council. As part of the project, almost half of Bowers Quarry is to be restored to limestone grassland. The costs of MEMO have been estimated at being £20-£25 million, with fundraising efforts continuing to date. Once open, the attraction will generate funds by charging an entry fee of up to £9 and it is expected to attraction 140,000 annual visitors within three years of launch. [8] [7]
In August–September 2012 Pierre Sauvegeot's Harmonic Fields, an ensemble of more than 500 instruments played by the wind, was set up near the cliff-edge within a disused section of Bowers Quarry. Harnessing the natural energy of the wind, the orchestra of instruments created a symphonic soundscape. Harmonic Fields was part of the London 2012 Festival, a 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together artists from across the world with those in the UK. [9]
Portland stone is a limestone geological formation dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major public buildings in London such as St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace. Portland stone is also exported to many countries, being used for example at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its 520-hectare (1,300-acre) surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains one of the largest in the world today. It is naturally sheltered by Portland to the south, Chesil Beach to the west and mainland Dorset to the north. It consists of four breakwaters: two southern and two northern. These have a total length of 4.57 km (2.84 mi) and enclose approximately 1,000 ha of water.
Portland Bill is a narrow promontory at the southern end of the Isle of Portland, and the southernmost point of Dorset, England. One of Portland's most popular destinations is Portland Bill Lighthouse. Portland's coast has been notorious for the number of shipwrecked vessels over the centuries. The dangerous coastline features shallow reefs and the Shambles sandbank, made more hazardous due to the strong Portland tidal race.
Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England, its distinctive appearance. An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is a 'freestone', so-called because it can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such as slate, which form distinct layers.
Landkey is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. The parish has a population of 2,302 according to the 2021 census. It is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) from the nearest town of Barnstaple. The village is a major part of the electoral ward called Landkey, Swimbridge and Taw.
Braichgoch slate mine was a large slate mine located in Corris Uchaf, north Wales. It operated continuously from 1787 until its closure in 1970, apart from a hiatus in the 1900s. Most of the surface workings of the quarry were removed as part of a road widening and landscaping scheme in 1983.
The Treffry Viaduct is a historic dual-purpose railway viaduct and aqueduct located close to the village of Luxulyan, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The viaduct crosses the Luxulyan Valley and is part of the Treffry Tramways. It forms an integral part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a World Heritage Site. It is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and due to its poor condition is on Historic England's, Heritage at Risk Register.
The Treffry Tramways were a group of mineral tramways in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, constructed by Joseph Treffry (1782–1850), a local land owner and entrepreneur. They were constructed to give transport facilities to several mines and pits producing non-ferrous metal, granite and china clay in the area between the Luxulyan Valley and Newquay, and were horse-operated, with the use of water and steam power on inclines, and at first operated in conjunction with the Par Canal and Par Docks, also constructed by Treffry. One of the routes crossed the Luxulyan Valley on a large viaduct, the largest in Cornwall when it was built.
Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of fossil fuels, metals, and industrial minerals due to its complex geology. In 2013, there were over 2,000 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling sites on the continental land mass of the United Kingdom producing £34bn of minerals and employing 36,000 people.
Portland Bowers Basebed is a type of limestone from Bowers Quarry at the Isle of Portland in Dorset, southern England, on the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.
King Barrow Quarry is a disused site of former 19th century stone quarries on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is located in the north-east corner of Tophill. The quarry, now a Dorset Wildlife Trust nature reserve, covers 12.2 hectares. Both King Barrow and the nearby Tout Quarry make up the Dorset Wildlife Trust's Portland Quarries Nature Park. Portland also has two butterfly reserves: Broadcroft Quarry and Perryfield Quarry.
Broadcroft Quarry is an active stone quarry and part butterfly nature reserve located on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is located towards the eastern side of the island, where it lies to the east of the village Easton and close to The Grove village. The reserve section is now a valued home for a number of butterfly species, while the working quarry area is one of the largest active quarries on Portland and has supplied London with natural Portland stone for many years. The quarry is owned by Portland Stone Firms Ltd, along with Perryfield and Coombefield Quarries. The firm is the largest landholder on the island. The nature reserve is managed by Butterfly Conservation.
Cwmorthin quarry was a slate quarry west of the village of Tanygrisiau, north Wales. Quarrying on the site started in 1810. In 1860 it was connected to the Ffestiniog Railway. In 1900 it was acquired by the nearby Oakeley quarry and the two were connected underground. In 1970 it closed along with Oakeley. There was small-scale working in the 1980s and 1990s, and the mine finally closed in 1997.
Jurassica was a planned visitor attraction in a disused quarry on the Isle of Portland, near Weymouth in Dorset, southern England. It was based on the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site, and as a subterranean geological park, would have largely presented the prehistoric world. The attraction's location was chosen as Yeolands Quarry, a now disused quarry that was operational until the 21st century by Portland Stone Ltd. The quarry is 36 metres (120 ft) deep, 90 metres (300 ft) wide, and is on the eastern side of the island just south of The Grove village.
Yeolands Quarry is a disused stone quarry located on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is located on the eastern side of Portland, where it lies east of the village Easton and south of The Grove village. The quarry is one of the largest on Portland, at 120 feet (37 m) deep, 300 feet (91 m) wide. It is now abandoned for extracting stone, though the adjacent Broadcroft Quarry to the west, which links to Yeolands, is still in some use, as well as being a butterfly reserve.
Perryfield Quarry is an operational stone quarry and part butterfly nature reserve located on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is situated towards the middle of the island, east of the village of Weston and south of the hamlet of Wakeham. The reserve section is now a valued home for a number of butterfly species, while the working quarry area is one of the largest active quarries on Portland. The quarry is owned by Portland Stone Firms Ltd, along with Broadcroft and Coombefield Quarries. The firm is the largest landholder on the island.
Stonehills Mine is the first completely new mine on Portland. Albion Stone Plc began the process to open this mine began in 2015 and reserves are estimated to last for 50 years (2066). The planning application to begin work on Stonehills was submitted to the Dorset County Council in February 2001 and was finally approved in February 2005. The site is owned by the Crown Estate and the leased by Albion Stone plc who extract Portland Stone Whitbed and Portland Stone Basebed. Albion Stone Plc use room and pillar mining method of extraction which is already being carried out in their Jordans mine and Bowers Mine.
Jordans Mine is a Portland Stone mine on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. In 2016 it was the biggest mine for this stone, at some places 9 m (30 ft) high. It had previously been a quarry site since the 19th century. Following the successful planning application and the signing of the Unilateral Undertaking the mining began in 2008 and became 100% mining in early 2016. There are several miles of tunnels and this network dramatically reduces the impact on the environment and local residence