Cawdor Quarry is a disused

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

in Matlock,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. Much of it is designated as 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 ...

. Within the SSSI the quarry still contains some old derelict machinery and warehouses. Cawdor Ponds, three lakes left over from the quarrying, are now owned by Matlock Angling Club. The

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

is renowned for its quarrying, and stone from Cawdor Quarry was used in the construction of both

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to a major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was originally planned by architect Decimus Burton. The juncti ...

and the

Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment was built as part of the London Main Drainage (1859-1875) by the Metropolitan Board of Works, a pioneering Victorian civil engineering project which housed intercept sewers, roads and underground railways and embanked the ...

in London. Around 2000, the quarry land was purchased by the supermarket giant

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

who proposed the building of a new supermarket by the spring of 2002. This met much opposition from local shopkeepers and proposals to regenerate most of the centre of Matlock became part of the plan. This included a new bus station (to be located close to Sainsbury's), the diversion of the

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road conn ...

, the possibility of making Crown Square into a pedestrianised area where markets could be held and the possibility of making the bridge over the River Derwent one-way. The bus station, the diversion of the A6, and the one-way bridge were all incorporated into the plan which was approved. From January 2007, Birse Engineering started work on developing the new road and Bowmer & Kirkland Ltd, main contractors for Sainsbury's, started work on the superstore. The store opened on Thursday 4 October 2007, with the petrol station opening on 25 October, later that month. The

Peak Rail Peak Rail is a heritage railway in Derbyshire, England, which operates a steam and heritage diesel service for tourists and visitors to both the Peak District and the Derbyshire Dales. The heritage railway line is over in length and, , operat ...

Heritage Railway centre used part of the former Cawdor Quarry sidings as their connection to the mainline at Matlock. Part of the old loading docks will have to be removed to make way for a new alignment in order to restore the mainline connection at Matlock. There are also plans to build 400+ new homes at Cawdor Quarry in a development called Matlock Spa. This additional development will occur soon, following on from the completion of the supermarket project.

References

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Derbyshire Quarries in England Matlock, Derbyshire {{Derbyshire-geo-stub