Burtersett Quarries

Description

Burtersett Quarries from the air MYD25743 (c) YDNPA, 2023

Two main quarries operated near Burtersett during the 19th and early 20th centuries, Old Quarry and Seavy Quarry. Two others, at Three Hole Brigstone (late 19th century) and Braygill Quarry (around 1905) found only poor quality stone and were abandoned. The stone was used for building, with the best quality being reserved for the manufacture of flags for pavements, floors and roofs. Burtersett flags are of Yoredale sandstone which at Old Quarry was found in a seam 4.5 metres deep although only the lower 2 metres were workable. The stone was extracted by tunnelling into the seam. These workings extended a considerable distance underground, at Old Quarry for at least 360 metres. The roof was supported with stone or timber props with the main levels being around 2 metres high. Worked out levels were backfilled with waste and others have collapsed leaving very little access. The dressing floor at Seavy Quarry had sheds and loading bays, all served by tramways. Burtersett quarries were at their peak of production around 1890 although quarrying probably began twenty years earlier. For many years after the opening of the Wensleydale Railway around 15,000 tons of stone flags were sent from Hawes Station every month. The quarries closed in 1931 and soon after that the sites were stripped of everything moveable.

Burtersett Quarries MYD25743 (c) YDNPA, 2023

Source:

Hall, David (1985) Burtersett Quarries, a Wensleydale Mining Community. Hawes: Wensleydale Press

Hartley, Marie & Pontefract, Ella (1988) Wensleydale. Otley: Smith Settle