QUARRIES

 

Quarries in the parish

 Mines >>
K - Hawks Tor (disused)
(SX256764)		 L - Kingbear (disused)
(SX269745)		 M - Berrio (disused)
(SX271753)		 N - Middlewood (disused)
(SX272754)
O - Glubhole (disused)
(SX273775)		 P - Bearah Tor (working)
(SX259745)		 Q - Kilmar Tor (disused)
(SX248747)		 R - Tremollett (1) (disused)
(SX289757)
S - Tremollett (2) (disused)
(SX288757)		 T - Tremollett (3) (disused)
(SX287757)		 U - Warrens Park (disused)
(SX301766)		 V - Lanoy (1) (disused)
(SX302776)
W - Lanoy (2) (disused)
(SX305779)		 X - North Hill (1) (disused)
(SX264769)		 Y - North Hill (2) (disused)
(SX265769)		 Z - Lemarne (disused)
(SX253776)

Bearah Tor Quarry

Bearah Tor Quarry is the last working quarry in the parish and has been run by the Piper family for at least 80 years. The following snippets have been taken from the website that tells the story of the quarry in its moorland setting.

Bodmin Moor, the tors and hills have been quarried for granite for over 6000 years. Incredibly durable, it was used for major monuments and buildings throughout the centuries including Early Neolithic chambered tombs and long cairns. Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age standing stones, stone circles, stone rows and burial cists [were cut from local granite]. ...
Much later, granite-clad office blocks, 19th century lighthouses and 20th century war memorials are the modern sisters to those ancient monuments. ...
The early medieval period saw inscribed stones and crosses and later medieval wayside crosses, bridges and churches. ...
The granite was used extensively in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for bridges, dockyards and churches and other important monuments. ...
It was also used after the two world wars for the headstones of the dead. ...
Rarely do we lift granite from the quarry itself but cut and dress stone of all different types which is brought onto site from different places. ...
A lot of our work is for local projects but we do a fair amount for historic buildings all over the country.

The banner image shows (L-R) cogwheels on the working crane at Bearah Tor Quarry, the crane at Bearah Tor Quarry, Westminster Bridge in London (built from granite extracted from quarries on the moor in North Hill parish), Pellegrini Wire Saw installed at Bearah Tor Quarry in April 2018.