About

Where is the quarry?

Durnford Quarry sits unobtrusively between the B3129 and B3128, 5km south west of central Bristol and 1km north of Long Ashton and adjoins Ashton Court Estate.


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Many people in Bristol are unaware of the existence of the quarry, despite the fact that quarrying has taken place at the site since before 1880 and has achieved production levels of aggregate in excess of one million tonnes per year. The quarry is temporarily mothballed due to the economic downturn however, when fully operational, the quarry provides employment for around 20 people – 10 quarry staff and 10 regular contractors. In addition, we use the services of numerous other suppliers and contractors associated with our activities. We also use 12 contract hauliers directly from Durnford and can use the fleet based at nearby Stancombe Quarry together with external hauliers if required.

What materials do Tarmac extract from the quarry?

Stone from the quarry has been used to produce aggregates, concrete and asphalt mainly supplied to local markets for construction projects including Bristol’s Cabot Circus shopping development as well as houses, roads, hospitals, schools and other development schemes in the area.

Reusing waste building materials

To supplement the stone from the quarry and to maximise aggregate recycling (which supports government initiatives), Tarmac has joined forces with Bristol's largest earthworks and haulage contractors Churngold Recycling Ltd forming a joint venture company 'Tarmac and Churngold Recycled Aggregates Limited (TCRA)'.

TCRA produces around 75,000 tonnes of recycled aggregates per year at the site from inert materials sourced locally from construction and demolition sites. There is now less that three million tonnes of stone at the quarry and to extract these remaining reserves a further period of time is needed and a planning application to increase the time allowed for extraction is being prepared.

Working with local communities and organisations

Tarmac has been working closely with Ashton Court Estate in considering the end use of the site. Both are keen to create a landform which offers the greatest potential and benefit to the local community and visitors to the Estate. To achieve this, it is proposed to revise the current restoration scheme and for TCRA to partially infill the quarry using locally sourced inert restoration materials.