Description and History of Site:-
Crinoidal and Black limestone was exploited for what was marketed as Dent Marble in at least 10 sites in Dentdale and Deepdale: Blea Gill Quarry (SD774 846) worked Black Marble, as did Greenside Quarry (SD746 905). Crinoidal limestone was worked at Gawthrop (SD685 868), High Laithe Gill (SD689 859), two on Highrake Moss (SD7435 8812), Deepdale Head (SD726 827), Dale Head Quarry (SD779 824), and Binks Quarry at 540m OD below Great Coum (SD7085 8365).

The last of these is the most accessible and informative. It consists of multiple quarry holes, discard heaps and judd walls, and has a high number of abandoned dimension stone blocks, some with clear tooling marks, plus a roadway leading from Occupation Road. No explosives were used, for obvious reasons.

The processing works at Stone House had two mills: High Mill (now a house) was converted to a stone-cutting mill between 1800 and 1810; Low Mill (now demolished but the site can be seen when the vegetation permits) next to the tarred road was extended c. 1815 and used for polishing stone. Both mills were water powered and both were fed from a mill pond above High Mill with leats (now infilled). The wheelpit for Low Mill is extant, adjacent to the tarred road, and that for High Mill was adjacent to the bridleway.

There was also a manager's house (demolished).

"Exactly when the industry started is not known but it was operational by 1800. Quarrying ended c. 1900 and the polishing works at Stone House was closed by 1907. By 1830 'Dent marble' was exported all over the country for decorative work and flooring fireplaces and monumental stone and from c. 1850 for table tops and inlaid work. The opening of the Settle Carlisle Railway boosted trade but eventually cheaper imports slowly killed off the trade during the 1890s."

Bennett (1993): 'High Mill and Stonehouse on Artengill Beck used water-power for cutting and polishing 'Dent marble'. Artengill viaduct on the Settle and Carlisle Railway is built of the same material.'

Further Reading and References:-
Richardson, S. 2002. Dent, Sedbergh and Garsdale marble and stone quarrying industry. Phase 1. Assessment Report Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. SYD 12629.
ditto. 2005. Phase 2. Field Assessment, SYD 12629.
Bennett, John and Jan. 'A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Cumbria'. Association for Industrial Archaeology, 1993

http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/a-z-of-industries/quarrying/the-dentdale-marble-industry

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Key Words :- deepdale 'marble' workings stone polishing

Viewing the Site :- The marble works is visible from road and bridleway adjacent; Binks Quarry is on open access land

Address :- Stone House, Dent, Sedbergh, Cumbria, LA10 5RL
Grid Ref :- SD 7720 8585
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.267794 , Long -2.351570
Local Authority :- South Lakeland District Council
Pre 1974 County :- Cumberland
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Site derelict - some buildings remaining
Site Dates :- pre 1800 - 1906/7
Record Date :- 28 March 2016

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © David Johnson