Underwood Quarry is a former quarry near Wells, Somerset on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills that produced Carboniferous Limestone. The rock was described as having very little faulting and a consistent nature, and as being ideal for road making and maintenance. [1]
The quarry was opened during the First World War by the Wells Stone Company who leased the land from Lord Brougham and Vaux. [2] In 1919 the 12 acre site and plant was sub-leased by the Somerset County Council to support their road building and maintenance activities, paying a royalty to Wells Stone for the rock extracted. [1]
In 1922 the Somerset County Council opened their Wookey Stone Sidings on the Cheddar Valley railway line to serve the quarry. Stone was carried by means of an aerial ropeway to the sidings. The ropeway became redundant in 1936 and was dismantled in 1948. Some 350,000 tons were transported by the ropeway.
The site was purchased by the council in 1932 and by 1939 they controlled 100 acres of surrounding land. By 1948 the quarry face had extended to a length of 900 feet and was 110 feet deep. To provide work during times when it was too wet for quarry operations, a precast concrete plant was established. [1] [3] In 1932 the quarry employed 118 men. [4] In 1971 the quarry was producing a quarter million tons of stone per annum. [5]
The Council sited its Central Repair Depot at the quarry. As well as looking after quarry plant, it was also responsible for all of the county vehicles. Initially this was steam rollers and steam wagons, but by 1950 the fleet included 371 highways vehicles, 249 fire brigade vehicles, 75 school meals vans and 70 ambulances. [1]
After the quarry closed, Thales UK operated a radar signature measurement range for the evaluation of radar signatures of large targets. Capabilities included turntables capable of handling loads up to 75 tonnes, a retractable pylon up to 0.675 tonne and an overhead suspension cable for targets up to 50 kg. The range was described as 200 metres wide and 50 metres deep and offered very low external electrical noise interference levels. [6]
Wookey Hole Caves are a series of limestone caverns, a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England. The River Axe flows through the cave. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for both biological and geological reasons. Wookey Hole cave is a "solutional cave", one that is formed by a process of weathering in which the natural acid in groundwater dissolves the rocks. Some water originates as rain that flows into streams on impervious rocks on the plateau before sinking at the limestone boundary into cave systems such as Swildon's Hole, Eastwater Cavern and St Cuthbert's Swallet; the rest is rain that percolates directly through the limestone. The temperature in the caves is a constant 11 °C (52 °F).
Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel, its coastline facing southeastern Wales. Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset is currently formed of six council areas, of which two are unitary authorities, until the four second-tier district councils are merged on 1 April 2023, after which the county will comprise three unitary authorities. Its county town is Taunton.
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