Directory of mines and quarries, 2010

This edition of the Directory of Mines and Quarries is being produced in a new form, in addition to being published in hard copy, it will now be available as a download from the MineralsUK.com website of the BGS. The first quarry list produced by the BGS and its predecessors was the Mineral edition of 1858, where, along with the statistical information, Roderick Murchison stated in his foreword that ‘The present publication is the result of a first attempt on the part of Mr. Robert Hunt to collect returns of the produce of the Clay Works and Quarries of the United Kingdom’. The prime object of the volume was to record the building stone quarries operating at the time, and some continuity exists between that volume and this with some of the sites being still recorded. See Figure 1, where, albeit with a slightly unique and possibly phonetic spelling — Locharbridge is found, listed as Locahbriggs in the current edition. Figure 1 An extract from Hunt’s 1858 listing of Quarry Returns. Some of the information being collected is still the same, Geological Formation, operator and location (Nearest Railway Station or Shipping Port) but other information is no longer collected as annual production is now commercially sensitive. Information on which buildings were supplied by the quarry is collected currently by the English Heritage funded Strategic Stone Survey and will be available through the BGS MineralsUK.com webpages. The production of this edition has been assisted by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly Government. Much of the data within is based on that collected during the Annual Minerals Raised Inquiry (AMRI) pre-survey of Mineral Planning Authorities for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the three government organisations. In addition, mineral operators have been surveyed during 2010 to allow them the opportunity to update the information held by BGS in the BRITPITS database on operational status, commodities worked and end products produced.