Description and History of Site:-
This is a very deep quarry with a single working face c. 30m high. The quarry floor extends 400m by 300m. Processing plant was sited on Mastiles lane outside the quarry area but everything was removed when the quarry closed down. It is now probably the barest and starkest disused quarry in the Dales. Its inception is unknown but it is known that in the 188os a steam-powered jaw crusher was installed to replace manual breaking which makes it one of the very earliest mechanised quarries in the Dales. In the 1930s the quarry largely produced ground agricultural limestone . In 1946 its operator, W.D. Roberts of Chapel House, Kilnsey shut it down but it was re-opened in 1948 by Better Limes Ltd trading as Kilnsey Limes. They installed new crushing and screening plant in 1960 and extended it again in 1963 by which date it employed seven men concentrating on aggregate for the building trade.

In 1977 Eskett Quarries took over the lease and submitted a planning application in 1981 to extend the quarry's area to extend it working life.To placate local opposition they moved the plant from Mastiles Lane to within the quarry. Consent was granted but with severe restrictions on what they could do. In 1987 Eskett Quarries became a subsidiary of Evered Quarries Ltd (part of the Aggregate Industries Group) and very controversially they extended the quarry area in breach of planning consent. They closed the quarry in 1998/99.

Further Reading and References:-
Johnson, D. 2010. Limestone industries of the Yorkshire Dales. Stroud: Amberley, pp.192-93, 233-35.
Johnson, D. 2016. Quarrying in the Yorkshire Pennines. Stroud: Amberley, p. 30.

Help us improve this entry

The compilers welcome corrections or additional information on all sites.
Any information provided will be verified before appearing on the web site.

Email comments

Key Words :- disused limestone quarry

Viewing the Site :- visible from Open Access land around most of the quarry circumference.

Address :- Mastiles Lane, Kilnsey, Grassington, North Yorkshire, BD23
Grid Ref :- SD 968 676
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.104276 , Long -2.050433
Local Authority :- North Yorkshire Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Earthworks only
Site Dates :- unknown - 1998/99
Record Date :- 12 January 2018

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