Raisby Quarry

(Copyright Coxhoe Local History Group)

The Carboniferous and Permian limestones of the North Pennines and the East Durham Limestone Plateau have been worked since medieval times for agricultural and building limes, and more recently for refractory products and road stone. Old abandoned quarries are a feature of both landscapes, and large modern quarries continue to work the Limestone Escarpment and the Great Limestone of the Dales.

Coxhoe has long been associated with Limestone Quarrying, as far back as the 13^th Century, taken from the accounts of Durham Cathedral that mentions three wagon loads of lime from Coxhoe for use in the Manor of Merrington.

Quarrying began at Raisby Hill in 1845. The limestone was burned in kilns and mixed with sand to make mortar and with water to make whitewash. Many of Coxhoes older house were built with rough limestone blocks, Blackgate is a good example still standing today as was the long since demolished Long Row.

Lime was later used for agricultural purposes and the stone was put to good use in road construction as it still is today.

With the development of the Iron & Steel industries and the blast furnace that was so important in iron & steel making, Limestone was transported by rail to Middlesbrough for the steel making process. This continued until the 1980’s with a weekly train taking limestone out of the quarry by rail to Teesside.

In 1881 the quarry came under the ownership of the Raisby Hill Limestone Company and Basic works were added to the works in 1883 which came under the separate ownership of Raisby Basic Company. At one point in time Raisby was believed to have been the largest quarry in the world, though how far this is true can only be guessed at.

Limestone continues to be quarried to this day and the ownership has changed on a number of times with Breedon being the current owners of the quarry and Tarmac having an asphalt plant on site. The quarry supports local employment on a smaller scale than once was and this is purely due to mechanization.

We’ve only recently been gifted a series of photographs of Raisby Quarry at work during the 1950’s. Julie Ward is the daughter of Freddie Ward who worked as a dumper truck driver in the Quarry and became transport manager prior to his retirement.

Although it is a number of years since Freddie Ward passed away Julie told us that her Da would be delighted that the photos would be put to good use and that they would be seen and studied by others in and around Coxhoe.

Here is a gallery of images provide by Julie Ward.