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Gurney Slade quarry

Quarries in the Mendip HillsUse British English from February 2023
Gurney Slade quarry
Gurney Slade quarry

Gurney Slade quarry, grid reference ST626497 is a limestone quarry near Gurney Slade between Binegar and Holcombe, on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. Gurney Slade quarry exhibits pale to very dark grey Carboniferous Limestone overlain by red and purple-coloured Triassic breccias and marls with a small faulted block of overlying Lower Jurassic breccias forming an angular unconformity with the Carboniferous Limestone. There is abundant vertical sediment infilled fissures and joints (Neptunian Dykes). The rocks contain varying amounts of calcite mineralization, and there is common fossil material associated with the Carboniferous and Jurassic limestones. The limestone within the quarry dips to the south-east at around 30°.Work began at the quarry in the mid 18th century and grew after it was taken over by Francis Flower and Sons in 1928 producing stone for lime-burning. The quarry closed in 1947 and was reopened in 1951 by John Yeoman of Foster Yeoman. The next owner was City Sand and Gravel Co. and taken over by Morris & Perry (Gurney Slade) Ltd. who still operate the quarry. A Concrete plant was installed in 1963 and a coated macadam plant in 2001. The site is now capable of supplying up to 2 Million Tonnes Per Annum of Carboniferous Limestone aggregate. Francis Flower have a facility adjacent to the quarry which processes filler by-product from several Mendip quarries.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Gurney Slade quarry (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Gurney Slade quarry
Tape Lane, Mendip

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Wikipedia: Gurney Slade quarryContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.24524 ° E -2.53719 °
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Tape Lane

Tape Lane
BA3 4TE Mendip
England, United Kingdom
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Gurney Slade quarry
Gurney Slade quarry
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Emborough Quarries

Emborough Quarries (grid reference ST623505) is a 1 hectare (2.5 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Emborough in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1971. The disused quarry has yielded a wide variety of remains of vertebrate fossils, amongst which the early reptiles are particularly well represented. Of special note is Kuehneosaurus latus which is one of the earliest-known flying vertebrates. During the Triassic period of geological time, some 230 million years ago, the limestones now exposed on Mendip formed upland areas upon which a number of large rivers rose. Solution cavities were soon created in the land surface and material from the surrounding area was swept into the newly formed cave systems. Remains of the creatures living in the upland areas during this time were swept into these deposits and have now been exhumed by recent quarrying activities. Fresh material is brought to the surface with every rock fall and Emborough Quarries are a nationally important source of fossil vertebrate remains for research and study.This former Mendip quarry site, probably owned by Emborough Stone Co., a branch of Roads Reconstruction, Ltd., where iron ore was once mined is now home to an assembly of contractor's plant (possibly of Richard Wood (Engineering) Ltd), cranes and machine tools. It is the location of Nettlebridge Viaduct, a seven-arch bridge that once carried the Somerset and Dorset Railway.The site was owned by Emborough Stone Co which was later bought by Roads Reconstruction Ltd. The rock quarried was carboniferous mountain limestone which was used for construction and railway ballast. There are 2 main quarries and several trial quarries. The site was previously used by the Emborough Brick Co for making clay bricks.