Things to see at the quarry

We went to the old Town Quarry in Weston-super-Mare a couple of weeks ago to see my husband’s art exhibition, and after a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake, and after admiring his paintings of old and decaying boats in our local boat yard, we went outside and wandered round the old quarry. The character and charm of many of Weston’s older buildings is due to the local stone, most of which came from the Town Quarry. people visiting the town now, may think of it as mainly a tourist town, a typical British seaside town, or maybe an area of huge growth in housing for a population commuting to Bristol, to the south-west, or even to London.

Weston and its nearby villages once saw mining taking place where now we might imagine it to have been an agricultural area.  In 1568, calamine which is an old name for an ore of zinc,  was discovered on Worle Hill; this was the first place in Britain it had been found. Calamine was essential in those days for the producing brass. This industry continued well into the 1800’s as well as mining for galena, a lead ore. However, it was when Weston began to grow out of being a village and heading towards becoming a town, that the quarry which had been used for centuries for local housing expanded.

Quarrying came to an end in the 1950’s, and now the local authority has leased the old place, and it not only houses a collection of local artists in studios in the old buildings, but has a working blacksmith.

http://wsmfhs.org.uk/journals/quarrymen-town-quarry-weston-super-mare

http://www.oldtownquarry.co.uk/