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Perryfield Quarry is an operational stone quarry and part butterfly nature reserve located on the
Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier ...
,
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is situated towards the middle of the island, east of the village of
Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...
and south of the hamlet of
Wakeham Wakeham is a hamlet near the village of Easton, in Tophill on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. It is situated between the Straits part of Easton, and Pennsylvania Castle. As with the rest of Portland's villages and settlements, Wakeh ...
. The reserve section is now a valued home for a number of butterfly species, while the working quarry area is one of the largest active quarries on Portland. The quarry is owned by Portland Stone Firms Ltd, along with Broadcroft and Coombefield Quarries. The firm is the largest landholder on the island. King Barrow Quarry, located close to the area of New Ground, in the north-east corner area of Tophill, is also another Portland nature reserve. Broadcroft Quarry is also a part butterfly reserve.


History

Perryfield Quarry was first quarried during the 1890s. Planning consent for modern day quarrying on Portland was granted in 1951, covering 324 hectares of the island. Portland Stone Firms Ltd received and still holds the planning consent for Coombefield, Perryfield and Broadcroft. There are substantial reserves of dimension Portland stone within the quarry which will last beyond the current planning consent, ending in 2042. As an open cast quarry, this method of quarrying provides quicker extraction of raw block dimension stone whilst maintaining its integrity. Today Perryfield Quarry is at present Portland Stone Firms' main production site. It is being worked in a westerly direction. During its operational history the quarry did cease activity for a while, but was re-opened due to the demand for the particular stone at its site. The quarry is noted for its excellent stone quality and bed heights. It is largely quarried for Perryfield Basebed, Roach, Shelly and Whitbed stone. The Whitbed stone is a popular buff white stone, containing shell fragments. It is known to be a durable building stone and has been used extensively in the United Kingdom, including in the restoration of Westminster Abbey in 1993, as well as in the building of Waterloo Bridge, completed in 1945. In 2012 the masons of Portland Stone Firms Ltd used large, specially selected blocks of stone from the quarry to carve classical panels and lintels for the Farringdon Street façade of the large new 'Sixty London' development at Holborn Viaduct. Portland Stone Limited, another firm, operate out of four quarries on the island to extract stone to supply crushed materials. The stone is blasted, extracted, then crushed, screened, tested and loaded for transport. Aside from Perryfield, Broadcroft, Yeoland and Coombefield Quarries are also used for this purpose. The quarry has a giant ammonite (Titanites) at its gates, and such ammonites can be found there. Bivalves, molluscs and other trace fossils of worm burrows are often found within the Basal Shell Bed, along with several different species of gastropods. The Purbeck Beds within the quarry are now covered in rubble, but once made up the top most part of the quarry. In 2009 the small industrial area known as Perryfield Works was demolished for flats to be built on the corner facing Pennsylvania Castle. Perryfield House which stands in this area still remains derelict to date. A new housing estate Pennsylvania Heights has since been built on a former part of the quarry.


Nature reserve

In recent years, an abandoned, infilled area of the quarry had become reclaimed by nature and wildlife. It became a designated nature reserve, leased as a reserve since 1998, and part of the Bottomcoombe Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) complex. The reserve is now known as Perryfield Quarry Nature Reserve or Perryfield Quarry and Butterfly Reserve. It has been leased by the
Butterfly Conservation Butterfly Conservation (BC) is a UK-wide nonprofit environmentalist organization and charity dedicated to conserving butterflies, moths, and the environment. The charity uses its research to provide advice on how to conserve and restore butterf ...
from the quarry company. Today this area is a haven for wildflowers and butterflies, while its tree and scrub cover is also very important for migrating birds. The reserve is part of Portland's Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Perryfield is one of two nature reserves managed by Butterfly Conservation on Portland; the other, Broadcroft Quarry, is close by and somewhat larger, having become a reserve four years earlier in 1994. Spanning 1.2 hectares (approx 3 acres), the limestone grassland of the reserve provides a rich array of wildflowers, such as common bird's-foot-trefoil,
horseshoe vetch ''Hippocrepis comosa'', the horseshoe vetch, is a species of perennial flowering plant belonging to the genus '' Hippocrepis'' in the family Fabaceae. Description The overall appearance depends on its habitat: sometimes it forms upright clump ...
,
kidney vetch ''Anthyllis vulneraria'', the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch or woundwort is a medicinal plant native to Europe, northern Africa, and Western Asia. The name ''vulneraria'' means "wound healer". Description ''Anthyllis vulneraria'' reaches in ...
, ivy broomrape,
Alexanders ''Smyrnium olusatrum'', common name alexanders (or alisander) is an edible flowering plant of the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), which grows on waste ground and in hedges around the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal regions of Europe. It was ...
, large bindweed, white bryony, wild madder and
charlock ''Rhamphospermum arvense'', (syns. ''Brassica arvensis'' and ''Sinapis arvensis'') the charlock mustard, field mustard, wild mustard, or just charlock, is an annual or winter annual plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is found in the fields of ...
. These flowers make suitable conditions for butterflies and other insects such as the grey bush cricket. The sheltering copse of sycamores, as well as the scrub-covered slopes down to Portland's disused railway track, are both important features for migrating birds arriving or leaving via Portland, while the sheltered tall grass has become one of the best sites on island for glow-worms. A conservation team operates on the site, and stops the scrub from encroaching onto the grassland, particularly non-native plants like '' Cotoneaster horizontalis'', as well as dealing with tree regeneration.


Wildlife

There are many species of butterfly to be seen in the reserve. Most notable is the
silver-studded blue The silver-studded blue (''Plebejus argus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has bright blue wings rimmed in black with white edges and silver spots on its hindwings, lending it the name of the silver-studded blue. ''P. argus'' can be ...
, which remains very abundant in the area, having established a colony on the limestone. Other butterfly species include
small blue The small blue (''Cupido minimus'') is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the fem ...
(seen in May/June and July/August),
chalkhill blue The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...
(seen in July),
dark green fritillary The dark green fritillary (''Speyeria aglaja'') is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic realm - Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. Taxonomy The dark g ...
and
Adonis blue The Adonis blue (''Lysandra bellargus'', also known as ''Polyommatus bellargus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It inhabits the Palearctic realm (Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Russia, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, ...
. Grassland species include
dingy skipper The dingy skipper (''Erynnis tages'') is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. Description ''Erynnis tages'' is different from other skippers because of the predominantly monochrome, gray-brown wing coloration and the marbling, which ...
,
small Small means of insignificant size Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or ...
and
large skipper The large skipper (''Ochlodes sylvanus'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Taxonomy It was long known as ''Ochlodes venatus'', but this is a Far Eastern relative. There is still some dispute whether this species should be considered a d ...
,
ringlet The ringlet (''Aphantopus hyperantus'') is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is only one of the numerous "ringlet" butterflies in the tribe Satyrini. Range The ringlet is a widely distributed species found throughout much of the Pale ...
,
meadow brown The meadow brown (''Maniola jurtina'') is a butterfly found in the Palearctic realm. Its range includes Europe south of 62°N, Russia eastwards to the Urals, Asia Minor, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and the Canary Islands. The larvae feed on grasse ...
and marbled white, while there are migrant species such as the
painted lady ''Vanessa cardui'' is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan. Description File:Vanessa cardui MHNT CUT 2013 3 14 Pontfaverger-Moronvilliers Dos. ...
and
clouded yellow ''Colias'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are often called clouded yellows in the Palearctic and sulphurs (a name also used for other coliadine genera) in North America. The closest living relative is the genus ''Zerene' ...
. Moth species include the day-flying species
six-spot burnet The six-spot burnet (''Zygaena filipendulae'') is a day-flying moth of the family Zygaenidae. Subspecies *''Z. f. altapyrenaica'' Le Charles, 1950 *''Z. f. arctica'' Schneider, 1880 *''Z. f. balcanirosea'' Holik, 1943 *''Z. f. campaniae'' R ...
, four-spotted moth and
cinnabar Cinnabar (; ), or cinnabarite (), also known as ''mercurblende'' is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and is t ...
, as well as the night flying species Portland ribbon wave, beautiful gothic and valerian pug. Some of the many species of birds seen at the reserve include warblers and other migrants such as the green woodpecker, raven,
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...
and kestrel.


References

{{Isle of Portland Isle of Portland Quarries in Dorset Jurassic Coast Nature reserves in Dorset