Active Quarries

Barrasford Quarry © BGSIgneous rock, limestone, sandstone, peat, and sand and gravel are worked in the district. Active quarries provide fresh and constantly changing sections through the deposits being worked. They therefore provide some of the finest opportunities to further understanding and appreciation of the area’s geodiversity. With appropriate planning for after-use, quarries may also be developed as important future assets for biodiversity and recreation and can become considerable assets to the area’s natural heritage.

Active quarries offer opportunities to demonstrate the working techniques and the relevance of these industries within their local and regional communities. Significant opportunities exist at many active sites to plan after-uses which may be sympathetic to the conservation of important geological features.

Dolerite (‘whinstone’) from the Whin Sill is worked as an important source of roadstone and large blocks are recovered for use as armour-stone. Four large quarries today work the main sill at Keepershields, Barrasford, Swinburne and Divethill. Porphyritic rhyolitic rock at Harden Quarry within the National Park is one of the few places in the UK where naturally red stone can be obtained and is particularly siutable for specialised use in road surfaces.

The Great Limestone is extracted at Mootlaw Quarry near Ryal, and metamorphosed Oxford Limestone is worked adjacent to the Whin Sill at Barrasford Quarry.

Crushed rock aggregate and roadstone are the main products. The working practice adopted at Mootlaw is to partially backfill the worked-out portions of the quarry with overburden and quarry spoil and then to return the land to agriculture. Similar practices are adopted at Barrasford.

Sandstone is worked primarily for building stone. Small amounts, mainly of waste material, are also sold for aggregate. Northumberland produces particularly high quality building stones, which have been used for prestigious buildings both locally and nationwide.

Peat is currently extracted at two sites in Northumberland on the north-eastern margin of the district, Kemping Moss near Lowick and Greymare Farm near Belford.

Sand and gravel in the alluvial deposits of the River Tyne have been worked from comparatively small pits. The sand and gravel deposits in the area between Wooler and Milfield are, together with the Powburn area, amongst the highest quality reserves in Northumberland and continues to be extracted at a number of sites in that area. These include Roddam Quarry on the eastern edge of the National Park and Woodbridge Farm.