Beer Quarry Caves
Encyclopedia
- "Beer stone" redirects here.
Beer Quarry Caves is a man-made limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
underground complex located about a mile west of the village of Beer, Devon
Beer, Devon
The village of Beer is in south-east Devon, England, on Lyme Bay.- Location :The village of Beer is situated on the 95-mile long Jurassic Coast, England's first natural World Heritage Site and its picturesque cliffs, including Beer Head, form part of the South West Coast Path.Beer lies about two...
, and the main source in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for beer stone. The underground tunnels resulted from 2,000 years of quarrying beer stone, which was particularly favoured for cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
and church features such as door and window surrounds because of its colour and workability for carving. Stone from the quarry was used in the construction of several of southern England's ancient cathedrals and a number of other important buildings as well as for many town and village churches, and for some buildings in the United States. Extraction was particularly intense during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, but continued until the 1920s. An adit
Adit
An adit is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, and ventilated.-Construction:...
to the mine can be seen from the South West Coast Path
South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is Britain's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Since it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more...
east of Branscombe
Branscombe
The Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge is a collection of buildings in Branscombe, Seaton, Devon, England. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1965.The property consists of three buildings: a bakery, a watermill and a forge....
, having been exposed by a landslip in the late 18th Century. The quarry is part of the Jurassic Coast
Jurassic Coast
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of ....
.
Beer stone
Beer stone is a creamy-grey, fine-textured limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
from the Middle Cretaceous period
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
that takes its name from the town of Beer, where it was quarried and mined from Roman times. The layer of the best stone (lowest number of flints) is about thirty feet thick. It is also found in other places in south-west England. Because of its fine grain, it is a "live stone", which means that it can be sawn or squared up in any direction: the crystal structure does not restrict the directions in which it can be worked. When first mined, it is relatively soft and easily cut, but it hardens with exposure to the air, and becomes about as hard as Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
.
Roman period
Seaton, Devon
Seaton is a seaside town in East Devon on the south coast of England. It faces onto Lyme Bay, to the west of the mouth of the River Axe with red cliffs to one side and white cliffs on the other. Axmouth and Beer are nearby...
.
Norman period
The Norman workings join directly onto the earlier Roman quarry, working deeper into the hillside and are typified by large rectangular columns which support the roof and includes several smaller side galleries.Medieval period
Quarry men worked long hours by candlelight with hand tools such as picks and saws. The quarrymen were also often supported by child labour. Skilled stonemasons would then work on the stone in the caves because it became harder to carve when exposed to the air. The stone blocks would then be lifted by hand operated cranes after the connection of LewisLewis (Lifting appliance)
A lewis is one of a category of lifting devices used by stonemasons to lift large stones into place with a crane, chain block, or winch. It is inserted into a specially prepared hole, or seating, in the top of a stone, directly above its centre of mass...
lifting devices to be loaded onto horsedrawn wagons. They would then usually be taken to barges which would sail from Branscombe
Branscombe
The Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge is a collection of buildings in Branscombe, Seaton, Devon, England. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1965.The property consists of three buildings: a bakery, a watermill and a forge....
Beach. After 1540 stone was only quarried for secular building.
Modern period
After the Reformation, one of the uses of the caves was as a secret Catholic church. In the nineteenth century, the caves were also used to store contraband, including by the famous smuggler Jack RattenburyJack Rattenbury
Jack Rattenbury, nicknamed Rob Roy of the West was an English smuggler. In 1837, with the help of a local Unitarian clergyman, he published his diaries as Memoirs of a Smuggler.-Life:...
.
Quarrying at the site ceased in the early 20th century when a new quarry was opened nearby. Some of the caves were then used to cultivate mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s and others were used to dump waste from the new quarry. Guided tours of the caves are now run from spring to autumn and they provide a haven for hibernating bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s in winter.
Notable buildings made with Beer stone
- Christ Church Cathedral (St. Louis, Missouri)Christ Church Cathedral (St. Louis, Missouri)Christ Church Cathedral in Saint Louis, Missouri was designed by architect Leopold Eidlitz and built between 1859 and 1867. The Gothic revival structure was an expression of the city's sense of its significance as the United States expanded westwards...
- Exeter CathedralExeter CathedralExeter Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon in South West England....
- London BridgeLondon BridgeLondon Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
- Peak House, SidmouthPeak House, SidmouthPeak House in Sidmouth, Devon, is a building designed by Evelyn Hellicar. It was finished in 1904 and is entirely made of beer stone. It is a Grade II Listed building....
- Rochester CastleRochester CastleRochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, England. The 12th-century keep or stone tower, which is the castle's most prominent feature, is one of the best preserved in England or France. Located along the River Medway and Watling Street, Rochester was a...
- St Paul's CathedralSt Paul's CathedralSt Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
- Westminster AbbeyWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
- Winchester CathedralWinchester CathedralWinchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
- Windsor CastleWindsor CastleWindsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...