Monument record MWX4400 - Bill Quarries, Portland

Bill Quarries, marked on the second edition of the OS map. Working at least in the 1850s when described by Walter White. Published photographs (mainly postcards) of Portland Bill show timber hand derrick cranes and the quarries. Low quarry face, gully and much waste behind stone blocks, also three 'megalithic' shelters of massive stones and a tramway course with sleeper blocks. The quarries are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s.

Bill Quarries, marked on the second edition of the OS map. (1)

Working at least in the 1850s when described by Walter White. (2)

Maps of 1863, 1901 and 1927 show developments (3-6), while published photographs (mainly postcards) of Portland Bill show timber hand derrick cranes and the quarries. (7-8) Low quarry face, gully and much waste behind stone blocks, also three 'megalithic' shelters of massive stones and a tramway course with sleeper blocks.

Small-scale 19th century cliff-side limestone quarries. The central area is formed by a central plateau containing numerous small sub-oval depressions and several piles of quarried blocks up to 2m square. On the East side of the site is a sub-rectangular depression, seemingly divided into a series of narrow parallel strips along the long axis. The strips slope slightly from one side to the other, giving a very low saw-tooth pattern in profile. There is a line of overlapping shallow depressions on the East side. A long line of dumps of large pieces of quarried limestone, some partially dressed, along the South-West side of the site. A fine line of parallel stone setts which are the remains of a tramway on the East side of the site. <9>

The limestone quarries described above (in 1-8) are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s. The quarries are visible over an area measuring approximately 200 m by 220 m. <10> The site is still visible on the most recent comprehensive aerial imagery available to the project. <11> This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch two (Map). SDO11594.

<2> White, W, 1855, A Londoner's Walk to the Land's End, p46-47 (Monograph). SDO10356.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<4> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, Dorset sheet LX.6, 1901 (Map). SDO10373.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1901, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, sheet LX.7 (Map). SDO10288.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1929, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, sheet LX.6 (Map). SDO10374.

<7> Morris, S, 1990, Portland Camera, plate 11 (Monograph). SDO10273.

<8> Morris, S, 2006, Portland Then and Now, plate 133a & 134 (Monograph). SDO10291.

<9> English Heritage, 2000, Monuments Protection Programme Industrial Monuments Step 3 Report: The Quarrying Industries, Dorset 2 (Monograph). SDO20419.

<10> Royal Air Force, 13-APR-1946, RAF 106G/UK/1411 4050-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13027.

<11> XX-XXX-2009, Google Earth (Aerial Photograph). SDO12705.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1466184 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 6 2024 4:38PM