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Ironstone quarrying in the Vale The ironstone ridge near Hose. The prominent ridge which defines the southern boundary of the Vale of Belvoir, and on which the eponymous castle is sited, was created because a layer of ironstone about six to eight feet thick sits on top of softer marlstone deposits. Over millennia the marlstone has eroded away while the ironstone resists erosion creating the geomorphology of the escarpment. The crossing of two footpaths to the north of Goadby Marwood probably marks the centre of a Roman small town producing iron. However all archaeological evidence was quarried away in the 1950s. There was Iron Age and Roman quarrying and smelting just to the south of the ridge close to the modern village of Goadby Marwood. Two footpaths cross in a field where the centre of the Roman town probably was. The east-west one is a former Roman road still known as the Salters Way. So when – and why – did we get back into quarrying this resource? Well it happened more by accident than design. The Midland Railway had the bright idea that the people of Melton Mowbray might want to travel to Nottingham. In 1871 they commissioned a surveyor to work out the best route. The route they actually used is now known as the Old Dalby test track. But one of the routes being considered was to the east and went via Holwell. The surveyor noted the ironstone deposits. And made a business deal with the landowner to open up a quarry. Ore was first extraced at Holwell in 1875, first taking it almost off the cliff-side and then by quarrying, before later mining it. But mining is never a cheap option so extraction ceased in 1943. The approximate extent of ironstone extraction in Leicestershire, Rutland and south-west Lincolnshire (after Tonks 1992). Not all the quarries were operating at the same time. The red dot indicates the location of the Holwell Works. From the 1880s onwards ironstone extraction took place over a substantial part of north-east Leicestershire and into adjoining parts of Lincolnshire. For about two-thirds of the Salters Way running along the ironstone ridge from near Holwell to Belvoir Castle the road was hemmed in by successive quarries. Other large quarries were further away at Sproxton, Tilton on the Hill and in north Rutland. A whole network of standard gauge railway lines were built to take the ore to smelters at Scunthorpe, Rotherham, Corby and more locally to the Holwell Works at Asfordby Hill near Melton Mowbray. from railmaponline.com This gives you an idea of what fields looked like during quarrying. The top soil is shovelled to one side to allow access the ironstone. Eventually it will be levelled off to allow farming to resume. But now the only evidence of where the quarries once were is fields that are roughly six feet below the level of the road. After the working ceased the soil was just put back and levelled off. But clearly a few feet lower than it had been before the quarrying. As well as the ironstone being used for making iron it was also used locally as building stone. Very attractive the buildings usually are. But the ironstone tends to weather badly so needs repairing after a few hundred years. In 1974 the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe started using higher iron-content ores from Scandinavia and cancelled contracts with the quarries still operating. Where was the last quarry operating? It was just inside Lincolnshire at Woolsthorpe but known as Denton Park Quarry. The last day of operations at Denton Park Quarry, Woolsthorpe, on 14th February 1974. The locomotive is now preserved at Rocks by Rail museum, Cottesmore. (From Tonks 1992.) Lots more information and maps about the ironstone quarries of Leicestershire in this YouTube video. Main source Eric Tonks, 1992, The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands: History, operation and railways Part IX Leicestershire, Runpast Publishing. Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2025 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/chronicle

Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland