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Torr Works quarry, is a
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
at East Cranmore, near
Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based ...
on the
Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The quarry was formerly known as Merehead, a name which has been retained for its rail depot on the opposite side of the A361 road.


Geology

The site, located not far from a limestone deposit, covers an area of some 205 hectares, including 60 hectares which have been landscaped to blend with the surrounding countryside. A geodiversity audit of the site in 2004 recorded pale to dark grey well bedded
Carboniferous Limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian epoch (geology), Epoch of the Carboniferous period (geology), Period. T ...
dipping consistently southwards with a small area of overlying horizontally bedded buff-coloured
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
oolitic limestone forming an angular
unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval ...
.


History

In 1938 the recently opened Merehead Quarry was taken over by Limmer and Trinidad. 25 men were employed at the time. In 1958 the quarry was sold to Foster Yeoman who had been working
Dulcote Quarry Dulcote Quarry is a disused limestone quarry at Dulcote, near Wells on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. The quarry measures around from West to East and around from North to South, with an area of , which is surrounded by of woodland. ...
near Wells. The quarry was renamed Torr Works (after Ron Torr, the Chief Engineer) on 19 August 1970. It has been operated by
Aggregate Industries Aggregate Industries, a member of the Holcim Group, is a company based in the United Kingdom with headquarters at Bardon Hill, Coalville, Leicestershire. Aggregate Industries manufactures and supplies a range of heavy building materials, prima ...
since their take over of Foster Yeoman in 2006. The site employs over 250 people and produces 7.5 million tonnes of limestone annually which is carried directly from the quarry by Mendip Rail.


Merehead rail terminal

The quarry was connected to the East Somerset Branch in 1970 and the first train operated from the quarry on 19 August 1970.


See also

*
Quarries of the Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills, (Mendips) in northern Somerset, are the most southerly Carboniferous Limestone uplands in Britain. The Mendips comprise three major anticlinal structures, each with a core of older Devonian sandstone and Silurian volcanic ro ...


References


External links


Mineral data for this quarry from mindat.org
{{coord, 51.19979, N, 2.43791, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Quarries in the Mendip Hills