Quarries Of The Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills are the most southerly Carboniferous Limestone Upland in Britain and are found in northern Somerset.
They are composed of three major anticlinal structures, each with a core of older Devonian sandstone and Silurian volcanic rocks. The latter are quarried for use in road construction and as a concrete aggregate.
In recent centuries the hills, like the Cotswolds to the north, have been quarried for stone to build the cities of Bath and Bristol, as well as smaller towns in Somerset. The quarries are major suppliers of road stone to southern England, between them producing around twelve million tonnes a year, employing over two thousand people with an annual turnover of £150m.
There are two main rock types on the Mendips: the Devonian Sandstones visible around Black Down and Downhead and the Carboniferous Limestones, which dominate the hills and surround the older rock formations.
A large proportion of the stone (about 5 million tonnes per year) is moved by rail company Mendip Rail.
Read more about Quarries Of The Mendip Hills: Active Quarries, Disused Quarries
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