Gurney Slade quarry, is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

near Gurney Slade between

Binegar Binegar is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is located on the A37, east of Wells, between Shepton Mallet and Chilcompton. Its population in 2011 was 313. Binegar and Gurney Slade on the opposite side of the A37 are e ...

and

Holcombe Holcombe may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom * Holcombe, Greater Manchester * Holcombe, East Devon * Holcombe, Somerset * Holcombe, Teignbridge, Devon * Holcombe Manor, Chatham, Kent * Holcombe Rogus, Devon * Holcombe Court, Devon * Holcombe Bur ...

, on the

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Gurney Slade quarry exhibits pale to very dark grey

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

Limestone overlain by red and purple-coloured

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of di ...

s and

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

s with a small faulted block of overlying

Lower Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, 201.3 Ma ...

breccias forming an angular

unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval o ...

with the Carboniferous Limestone. There is abundant vertical sediment infilled

fissures A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure A ...

and joints ( Neptunian Dykes). The rocks contain varying amounts of calcite mineralization, and there is common fossil material associated with the Carboniferous and Jurassic limestones. The limestone within the quarry dips to the south-east at around 30°. Work began at the quarry in the mid 18th century and grew after it was taken over by Francis Flower and Sons in 1928 producing stone for lime-burning. The quarry closed in 1947 and was reopened in 1951 by John Yeoman of

Foster Yeoman Foster Yeoman Limited, based near Frome, Somerset, England, was one of Europe's largest independent quarrying and asphalt companies. It was sold to Aggregate Industries in 2006. History The company was founded by Foster Yeoman, from Hartlepool, ...

. The next owner was City Sand and Gravel Co. and taken over by Morris & Perry (Gurney Slade) Ltd. who still operate the quarry. A Concrete plant was installed in 1963 and a coated macadam plant in 2001. The site is now capable of supplying up to 2 Million Tonnes Per Annum of Carboniferous Limestone aggregate. Francis Flower have a facility adjacent to the quarry which processes filler by-product from several Mendip quarries.

References

See also