Beer Quarry Caves is a man-made limestone underground complex located about a mile west of the village of Beer, Devon, and the main source in England for beer stone. The tunnels resulted from 2,000 years of quarrying beer stone, which was particularly favoured for cathedral and church features such as door and window surrounds because of its colour and workability for carving. Stone from the quarry was used in the construction of several of southern England's ancient cathedrals and a number of other important buildings as well as for many town and village churches, and for some buildings in the United States. Extraction was particularly intense during the Middle Ages, but continued until the 1920s. An adit to another set of workings can be seen from the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...

east of Branscombe, having been exposed by a landslip in the late 18th century. The quarry is part of the Jurassic Coast, and is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI).

Beer stone

Beer stone is a creamy-grey, fine-textured limestone from the Middle Cretaceous period that takes its name from the town of Beer, where it was quarried and mined from Roman times. The layer of the best stone (lowest number of flints) is about thirty feet thick. It is also found in other places in south-west England. Because of its fine grain, it is a "Free stone", which means that it can be sawed or squared up in any direction: the crystal structure does not restrict the directions in which it can be worked. When first mined, it is relatively soft and easily cut, but it hardens with exposure to the air, and becomes about as hard as

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

Roman period

The earliest workings at the quarry were in the

Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

initially in open quarries, after which it was necessary to quarry into the side of the hill because of other rock strata above. At this time the estuary of the River Axe provided a safe harbour for the removal of the stone by boat. The Roman section is typified by large arches which support the roof and was hand excavated using picks and wooden wedges. Beer stone was used in the Roman villa of Honeyditches, Seaton.

Norman period

The Norman workings join directly onto the earlier Roman quarry, working deeper into the hillside, and are typified by large rectangular columns which support the roof and includes several smaller side galleries.

Medieval period

Quarry men worked long hours by candlelight with hand tools such as picks and saws. The quarrymen were also often supported by child labour. Skilled

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

s would then work on the stone in the caves because it became harder to carve when exposed to the air. The stone blocks would then be lifted by hand-operated cranes after the connection of Lewis lifting devices to be loaded onto horse-drawn wagons. They would then usually be taken to barges which would sail from Beer Beach. After 1540, stone was only quarried for secular building.

Modern period

After the Reformation, one of the uses of the caves was as a secret Catholic church. In the 19th century, the caves were also used to store

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

, including by the smuggler

Jack Rattenbury Jack Rattenbury, nicknamed Rob Roy of the West (1778, in Beer, Devon – 1844), was an English smuggler. In 1837, after thirty years at sea as a fisherman, pilot, seaman and smuggler, he wrote about his life in a book called ''Memoirs of a Smuggler ...

Entrance to Beer Quarry Caves (geograph 3503071)

Quarrying at the site ceased in the early 20th century when a new quarry was opened nearby. Some caves were then used to cultivate mushrooms and others were used to dump waste from the new quarry. Guided tours of the caves are now run from spring to autumn. The caves provide a haven for hibernating bats in winter. The presence of the bats, along with the opportunities to see the geological profiles that quarry faces allow, caused the old and new quarries to be declared a

. The very rare Bechstein's bat and the greater and lesser horseshoe bats along with five other bat species are all found in the caves.

Notable buildings made with beer stone

Christ Church Cathedral (St. Louis, Missouri) Christ Church Cathedral is the Episcopal cathedral for the Diocese of Missouri. It is located at 1210 Locust Street in St. Louis, Missouri. The dean of the cathedral is the Very Reverend Kathie Adams-Shepherd. Adams-Shepherd is also the first ...

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

* Peak House, Sidmouth * Rochester Castle *

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

* Westminster Abbey * Windsor Castle * Winchester Cathedral *

St John the Baptist Cathedral, Norwich The Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. History The cathedral, located on Unthank Road, was constructed between 1882 and 1910 to designs by George Gilbert Scott, Jr. ...

References

External links

Beer Quarry CavesBeer Village Website
{{coord, 50, 41, 56, N, 3, 6, 46, W, display=title Archaeological sites in Devon Bat roosts Building stone Caves of Devon Geology of Devon Jurassic Coast Quarries in Devon Tourist attractions in Devon Industrial archaeological sites in Devon Limestone caves Limestone mines in the United Kingdom