Chilmark Quarries
Chilmark Quarries (grid reference ST974312) is a 9.65 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), in the ravine south of the village of Chilmark in Wiltshire, England.
The SSSI was first notified in 1977.[1] Its importance as a home for bats led to the site being designated in 2005 (together with Fonthill Grottoes) as a European Special Area of Conservation.[2]
The western section of the site is in Chilmark civil parish, while the eastern section (separated by a minor road) is in Teffont parish.
History
Chilmark stone, a form of limestone, was mined here from medieval times and was used for buildings including Salisbury Cathedral.[3][4] In 1936 the quarry and mines were bought by the Air Ministry and used as a storage area for RAF Chilmark, a munitions depot, until 1995.[5] Stone extraction continued on a small scale until the quarry closed c. 2007. In March 2019 the quarry re-opened (by Chilmark Stone (Properties) Ltd) and extraction of Ashlar and Walling stone has once again started.
Biological interest
Within the disused quarries on the western side of the valley, there is a system of caves in which up to 150 bats, of several species, roost in winter. Species which use the site include greater and lesser horseshoe bats, Daubenton's bat, Natterer's bat and Brandt's bat. The quarries have been suggested to be the largest British hibernation roost of the Bechstein's bat,[citation needed] but it remains uncertain whether Bechstein's bats hibernate in caves and mines.[6]
Geological interest
The quarry has exposures of Jurassic rocks, part of the Purbeckian beds. It is a fine building stone used for the main structure of Salisbury Cathedral and many other local buildings. Purbeckian limestones, possibly from Chilmark, were used for packing around at least one of the upright stones of Stonehenge, for houses on an Iron Age site at Fifield Bavant, and for Rockbourne Roman Villa and other Roman sites.[7] Chilmark stone is easy to work, but long-lived in use. Fossils are uncommon in the beds recently being extracted, but include ammonites and other shells.
References
- ^ "Chilmark Quarries" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ^ "Chilmark Quarries: Citation for Special Area of Conservation UK0016373". Natural England. May 2005. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Crowley, D.A. (ed.). "Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 13 pp114-125 - Parishes: Chilmark". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Question: Chilmark stone". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. December 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Planning Brief: RAF Chilmark" (PDF). Salisbury District Council. December 1999. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "S1323. Bechstein’s bat Myotis bechsteinii" in Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation (Natural England, 2019), p. 5: "Caves and abandoned mines may be used for hibernation, though it is possible that the bats also remain in woodland roosts during the winter."
- ^ "Corrections to 1996 paper". Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
External links
- Chilmark Stone (Properties) Ltd
- Natural England website (SSSI information)
- SAC boundaries at MAgiC
- Aerial photo of the site at Multimap.com
- Building Research Establishment report on Chilmark stone
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee for Chilmark quarries
- John Palmer's study of Roman Purbeck quarry industries
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- Acres Farm Meadow
- River Avon System
- Baverstock Juniper Bank
- Bencroft Hill Meadows
- Bentley Wood
- Bincknoll Dip Woods
- Blackmoor Copse
- Botley Down
- Bowerchalke Downs
- Box Mine
- Bracknell Croft
- Bradley Woods
- Bratton Downs
- Brickworth Down and Dean Hill
- Brimsdown Hill
- Britford Water Meadows
- Burcombe Down
- Burderop Wood
- Calstone and Cherhill Downs
- Camp Down
- Chilmark Quarries
- Chickengrove Bottom
- Chilton Foliat Meadows
- Clattinger Farm
- Clearbury Down
- Cley Hill
- Cloatley Manor Farm Meadows
- Clout's Wood
- Coate Water
- Cockey Down
- Colerne Park and Monk's Wood
- The Coombes, Hinton Parva
- Cotswold Water Park
- Cranborne Chase
- Dank's Down and Truckle Hill
- Distillery Farm Meadows
- East Harnham Meadows
- Ebsbury Down
- Emmett Hill Meadows
- Figsbury Ring
- Fonthill Grottoes
- Fyfield Down
- Gallows Hill
- Goldborough Farm Meadows
- Great Cheverell Hill
- Great Yews
- Gutch Common
- Ham Hill
- Hang Wood
- Harries Ground, Rodbourne
- Haydon Meadow
- Heath Hill Farm
- Homington and Coombe Bissett Downs
- Honeybrook Farm
- Inwood, Warleigh
- Jones's Mill
- River Kennet
- Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain
- King's Play Hill
- Knapp and Barnett's Downs
- Knighton Downs and Wood
- Landford Bog
- Landford Heath
- Langley Wood and Homan's Copse
- Little Grubbins Meadow
- Long Knoll
- Loosehanger Copse and Meadows
- Lower Coombe and Ferne Brook Meadows
- Lower Woodford Water Meadows
- Midford Valley Woods
- Morgan's Hill
- The New Forest
- North Meadow, Cricklade
- Odstock Down
- Out Woods
- Parsonage Down
- Pewsey Downs
- Picket and Clanger Wood
- Piggledene
- Pike Corner
- Pincombe Down
- Porton Down
- Porton Meadows
- Prescombe Down
- Rack Hill
- Ravensroost Wood
- Restrop Farm and Brockhurst Wood
- Rotherley Downs
- Roundway Down and Covert
- Salisbury Plain
- Savernake Forest
- Scratchbury & Cotley Hills
- Silbury Hill
- Spye Park
- Starveall and Stony Down
- Steeple Langford Down
- Stockton Wood and Down
- Stoke Common Meadows
- Stratford Toney Down
- Sutton Lane Meadows
- Throope Down
- River Till
- Tytherington Down
- Upper Waterhay Meadow
- Upton Cow Down
- West Yatton Down
- Whiteparish Common
- Whitesheet Hill
- Win Green Down
- Winklebury Hill
- Winsley Mines
- Wylye and Church Dean Downs
- Yarnbury Castle
- Neighbouring areas
- Avon
- Berkshire
- Dorset
- Gloucestershire
- Hampshire
- Oxfordshire
- Somerset