Description and History of Site:-

At its maximum extent the quarry had a full-scale limeworks with five steel-clad cylindrical lime kilns, at least four of which were Spencer 1900-patent kilns, plus ancillary plant, and an aerial ropeway connecting the limeworks with the former sidings at Giggleswick Station (now under settle bypass).

When work here ended all plant and other buildings and infrastructure were demolished and removed; selective landscaping was undertaken and the site is being allowed to slowly revert to a 'natural' state.Stone getting and lime burning on Giggleswick Scar is first recorded in the manorial bylaws in 1602 when restrictions were placed on where kilns could be sited. At the maximum there was a string of kilns along the foot of the scar, remains of most now being increasingly lost in woodland growth. The development of the actual quarry that is seen today began when John Clark and Michael Wilson took on the two masonry-built kilns that still stand either end of the golf clubhouse, in 1856. They gave up the lease in the early 1870s having developed new interests in Mealbank Quarry, Ingleton (q.v.). In 1899 P.W. Spencer Ltd of Lothersdale took over the site on an initial 42-year lease, and they built five steel kilns. Lime was despatched along Mill Lane to the railway sidings by horse and cart until they purchased a small fleet of Mann's Patent Steam Wagons in 1920. In 1922 they initiated an aerial ropeway system to bring in coal and send out lime with 20 tubs running each way with a capacity of 30 tons per hour. The system was purchased from R. White & Sons of Widnes. It was decommissioned and taken down in the 1950s and motor lorries were used instead. The kilns were decommissioned in 1971 and demolished in 1974-75. Until the 1960s Giggleswick Quarry had no crushing plant - all stone was broken up by breakers and fillers up to this point. In 1964 the LMS Group bought out P.W. Spencer Ltd and that in turn became Tilcon in the early 1970s, and later Hanson. Tilcon removed all plant that fronted on to the then A65, and the quarry solely concentrated on selling crushed stone and aggregate products. Its last days were crushing stone from another quarry but the site was finally given up in 2008.

Further Reading and References:-

D. Johnson.2010. Limestone industries of the Yorkshire Dales. Stroud: Amberley Publications, pp. 179-85, 217-19, 234-36, 241-44.

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Key Words :- limestone quarry disused

Viewing the Site :- no public access within quarry. Visible from adjacent public right of way on east side

Address :- B6480, Giggleswick, Giggleswick, North Yorkshire
Grid Ref :- SD 80948 64864
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.079341 , Long -2.292689
Local Authority :- Craven District Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Site cleared - no above ground remains visible
Site Dates :- first known record 1 - closed 2008
Contributor :- David Johnson - 7 April 2016

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © David Johnson