History
Pinched from @Lord Oort’s report (cheers mate).
In South Gloucestershire the Bath Stone beds are at shallow depth and were mainly worked on the Badminton Estate in Tormarton and Old Sodbury parishes to supply a very local market.
The earliest known reference to quarrying in Tormarton is 4th March 1793 when James Gingell was killed "in consequence of a certain quantity of Earth & Rubbish falling upon his Body as he was raising Stone in a certain Quarry in the Parish of Tormarton".
Brookman's Quarry in Tormarton is an underground one, it is pencilled on a map of the Manor of Tormarton dated 1763, and is thus of later date. Thomas Brookman a farmer worked it up to 1863, from 1864 it appears to have been worked by the Badminton Estate, digging continued up to 1916 when the quarry closed. In the summer of 1936 the Bath & Portland Stone Firms Ltd sunk a shaft in the floor of the quarry in order to test the nature of the stone at a greater depth, the Badminton Estate paid £25 towards the cost. The work was done by Owen Bishop, a well known Corsham ganger. The gang included Ted Gibbons of Gastard who died in the early 1990s, he was the last man to work underground at Tormarton.
Tormarton stone was used for the restoration of Acton Turville Church in 1853, for the new font and the pillars and arches which separate the Aisles from the Nave and the corbels supporting the roof. A new font was supplied to West Littleton church in 1856.
The quarry is basically an inclined roadway type where the hauling road descends from the surface down to the floor of the quarry where the head of stone was undermined by pillar and stall workings. The freestone is wedge bedded i.e. the strata is inclined, unique features include the remains of a very early loading crane and mixed gauge wagon ruts. The square 1936 trial shaft is still there.
Explore
Visited with @Bertie Bollockbrains and Bertie Jnr. A big thanks to you both for showing me around the place. This was only a little mine with some nice features, especially the 10ft shaft in the floor! All in all it was a good little mooch about, ideal if your a beginner as it’s hard to get lost in. Photos done with iPhone
A few bits of graff
The bath and Portland test shaft
Remains of an old crane
A nice row of pillars
A few angles of the shaft
Looking back at entrance
Pinched from @Lord Oort’s report (cheers mate).
In South Gloucestershire the Bath Stone beds are at shallow depth and were mainly worked on the Badminton Estate in Tormarton and Old Sodbury parishes to supply a very local market.
The earliest known reference to quarrying in Tormarton is 4th March 1793 when James Gingell was killed "in consequence of a certain quantity of Earth & Rubbish falling upon his Body as he was raising Stone in a certain Quarry in the Parish of Tormarton".
Brookman's Quarry in Tormarton is an underground one, it is pencilled on a map of the Manor of Tormarton dated 1763, and is thus of later date. Thomas Brookman a farmer worked it up to 1863, from 1864 it appears to have been worked by the Badminton Estate, digging continued up to 1916 when the quarry closed. In the summer of 1936 the Bath & Portland Stone Firms Ltd sunk a shaft in the floor of the quarry in order to test the nature of the stone at a greater depth, the Badminton Estate paid £25 towards the cost. The work was done by Owen Bishop, a well known Corsham ganger. The gang included Ted Gibbons of Gastard who died in the early 1990s, he was the last man to work underground at Tormarton.
Tormarton stone was used for the restoration of Acton Turville Church in 1853, for the new font and the pillars and arches which separate the Aisles from the Nave and the corbels supporting the roof. A new font was supplied to West Littleton church in 1856.
The quarry is basically an inclined roadway type where the hauling road descends from the surface down to the floor of the quarry where the head of stone was undermined by pillar and stall workings. The freestone is wedge bedded i.e. the strata is inclined, unique features include the remains of a very early loading crane and mixed gauge wagon ruts. The square 1936 trial shaft is still there.
Explore
Visited with @Bertie Bollockbrains and Bertie Jnr. A big thanks to you both for showing me around the place. This was only a little mine with some nice features, especially the 10ft shaft in the floor! All in all it was a good little mooch about, ideal if your a beginner as it’s hard to get lost in. Photos done with iPhone
A few bits of graff
The bath and Portland test shaft
Remains of an old crane
A nice row of pillars
A few angles of the shaft
Looking back at entrance
Luckily we didn’t bump into him
spray painting mines is a dick move!
