History

History of Durnford Quarry

Quarries have long been part of our landscape and they meet the needs of our society through the supply of aggregate products for building and construction projects.

Minerals have been quarried and mined in the Durnford area for centuries. Durnford quarry is located on what is known as the Failand Ridge, producing Clifton Down carboniferous limestone.

Mid 18th century

The areas to the south and east of the ridge were centres for the extraction of coal and iron ore and the processing of burnt lime (which was traditionally used for making mortar). The iron workings of Providence in the mid-nineteenth century produced up to 6,000 tonnes of ore per year.

Early 1900s

As the coal and iron ore workings petered out in the early 1900s the miners turned to the quarry of J.W.Durnford & Sons for employment. It is not clear just how many men earned their living from the quarry but it is thought that at the height of its production hundreds toiled there. The quarrymen laboured to supply buildings and roadstone for Bristol and to produce burnt lime, over half of which went to London.

During WWll many Italian prisoners were billeted in the area and worked at the quarry.

1960

The Durnford family sold the quarry to Wrings Transport around 1960 who operated it until Mixconcrete bought Wrings in 1973. Pioneer took over the quarry in 1982 and when Hanson took over Pioneer in 2000 the quarry was sold to Tarmac Limited.

1990 to 2007

To meet the growing demand for stone a new aggregate processing and asphalt plant complex were commissioned in 1990 and production increased from 350,000 to over one million tonnes per year. In 1997 planning permission was secured to extend the quarry and with this permission a total of 10 million tonnes of stone remained to be worked. With an output of one million tonnes per year it was expected that the quarry would be exhausted by 2004.

However, from the mid 1990s onwards production at the quarry continued to decline and by 2008 production of primary aggregate had reduced to 250,000 tonnes. This was partly due to a decrease in demand and also the increased use of recycled aggregates which replaced some of the markets previously supplied by primary material.