Condensed from my forthcoming book:-
KINGSDOWN QUARRY
This hillside and undermining quarry is on the south side of the Kingsdown to Bathford road almost opposite the Swan Inn, whether Bath stone was dug here before the turnpike road was made or began afterwards is unknown, however a late 18th century date at least, is probable.
A Levi Willcox was killed towards the end of June 1805 'by a large Portion of a quarry falling in where he was working' at Kingsdown Hill in the parish of Box. Two years later in July 1807 at Kingsdown Old Hill, Wm. Helps was digging stone in Well spring Quarry, when a part fell in and killed him.
In 1848 a man named Stower sought to recover the balance of an account from a man named Butcher. In March 1847 Stower had taken a quarry at Kingsdown, Butcher had partly made a road leading to the quarry. Stower was induced to give the quarry up on certain conditions as to the purchase of cranes and apparatus, including the crab and chains, by Butcher, however Butcher had not paid in full. Stower was almost certainly Thomas Stower(s) a Kingsdown quarryman.
At 4th November 1852 Geo Bullock and W Salter were both rated for an underground quarry on Kingsdown, by the 2nd December 1859 Salter had been replaced by George Myers and Sons who was there until 1866 when the Bath Stone Company took it on.
By a lease dated 3rd March 1886 Kingsdown Quarry was granted to Richard Joseph Marsh and Company Ltd., for a term of 21 years from 25th September 1885. Following the December 1887 amalgamation the Bath Stone Firms took over the lease to R J Marsh Ltd., a new lease was granted by Col. Northey from 25th March 1904, it was for a term of 21 years. The Stone Firms stopped digging stone at Kingsdown in 1914, however in 1925 the lease was renewed for a further 21 year term.
Meanwhile in 1888 Richard Joseph Marsh formed a new company named Marsh, Son and Gibbs Ltd., who worked another part of Kingsdown Quarry. Their lease was granted by George Wilbraham Northey to Alfred Richard George Marsh, (the son of Richard Joseph Marsh), it was dated 2nd May 1887, the term was 21 years from 29th April 1885, the dead rent was £15 a year and the royalty was five shillings per superficial yard. Marsh, Son and Gibbs claimed in March 1888 that they would work the quarry to a larger extent than hitherto, and dig about 6,500 ft3 (184 m3) a year according to their 1902 prospectus. It is assumed that the lease was renewed in 1906 because the Company continued to dig stone at Kingsdown Quarry up to 1909 when their business was bought by the Bath Stone Firms Ltd.
A Box quarryman named George Butt (1829-1911) also worked part of Kingsdown Quarry from 1888 or earlier, after his death the business continued under the style of George Butt and Sons until 1932, very likely by his son Simeon Butt (1859-1930) and another son named William. The last newcomer to dig stone in Kingsdown Quarry was A W Angell of Bathford who was listed for the years from 1921 to 1926.
The Quarry
West of the underground quarry there are some very old hillside workings which were served by a haul road that can still be traced down to the main road. The former hillside quarry by the roadside and opposite the Swan Inn has been undermined in two places, although the two sets of workings are close together they are totally separate from each other.
The main underground haul road passes under a large diameter hole to the surface which has been partially filled, underground it superficially resembles a fall, a hole passes through this obstruction and it is possible to wriggle through.
Trolley roads were never laid down in Kingsdown Quarry, the stone was carried away by horse drawn wagons or carts, it was the last quarry to do this by margin of more than thirty years, curiously on curves the raised or super elevated cart ruts are on the outside of curves. There is a cluster of three wooden bedded cranes in what is assumed to be the last area worked, two cranes are wrecked by ceiling falls, nearby there is some triangular shaped stones that were left over when sawing crease from a block.