Crossgates Quarry Explained

Crossgates Quarry
Pushpin Map:North Yorkshire
Place:Crossgates
Subdivision Type:County
State/Province:North Yorkshire
Country:England
Products:Limestone

Crossgates Quarry is a disused limestone quarry in Crossgates, south of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England.

Fossils

The limestone of Crossgates Quarry is of the Corallian Group. It was said in 1892 that "most of [the] species [of Jurassic rock] in former times marked Scarborough have either come from this or Ayton Quarries."[1] Blake and Hudleston described the rock beds of the quarry as 2 feet of coral rag, 8 feet 1 inch of oolite and corals, 2 feet of the coral shell-bed, and 13 feet 2 inches of oolites.[2]

In 1901, J. A. Hargreaves of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, commented that "Crossgates quarry lies immediately below the Coral Rag, and although fossils are numerous, it is almost impossible to extract them from the surrounding matrix."[3]

Mining

Crossgates Quarry appears on maps as early as 1854, along with 11 lime kilns in the vicinity.[4]

The quarry was home to a lime works. In 1932, there was a fire at an engine shed there, which was attended by Scarborough fire brigade and Viscount Downe's private fire brigade from Wykeham Abbey. Scarborough fire brigade did not attempt to put out the fire as they had no agreement to operate outside the borough.[6] Residents near the quarry complained of noise in 1961 when a new plant was being installed.[7]

In 1983, the quarry was mooted as a potential development site for housing, agriculture, or commerce.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Fox-Strangwate, C. . The Jurassic Rocks of Britain, Vol. I: Yorkshire . HM Stationery Office . 1892 . Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom . London . 344.
  2. Blake . J. F. . Hudleston . W. H. . 1877 . On the Corallian Rocks of England . The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London . 33 . 326 .
  3. Book: The Transactions of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union: Part 29, Issued (with Part 28) to the Members for the year 1902 . Taylor Bros . 1903 . Leeds . Appendix: 158th Meeting-Wykeham, 22nd June, 1901.
  4. Buckberry. Joanne Louise. 2004. A Social and Anthropological Analysis of Conversion Period and Later Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, Volume II. PhD thesis. University of Sheffield. 470.
  5. Ordnance Survey. Yorkshire Sheet 93. 1854. 1:10560 . Ordnance Survey. Southampton. Captain Bayly, RE. In 1857, Anglo-Saxon human remains were found at the quarry and investigated by Lord Londesborough.[4]
  6. News: 13 July 1932 . Lime Works Fire: Scarborough Brigade Unable to Attend . 16 . The Yorkshire Post . subscription . 26 February 2023.
  7. News: 2 January 1961 . No Action on Works Noise . 1 . Hull Daily Mail . subscription . 26 February 2023.
  8. News: 5 January 1983 . Scarboro unveils plan for future . 7 . Hull Daily Mail . subscription . 25 February 2023.