Monument record MDO19490 - Tout Quarries, Portland

Large quarry area worked progressively throughout C19, as indicated on maps. Served by branches from Merchants' Railway. Extreme north part, on cliff top, may have been worked by 1745. By 1800 there were workings all along the cliff top, then progressing inland (eastwards) until 1889, with the final area quarried by 1900 which left two ‘islands’ of untouched stone. The quarries are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s.

Large quarry area worked progressively throughout C19, as indicated on maps. Served by branches from Merchants' Railway. Extreme north part, on cliff top, may have been worked by 1745 (1). By 1800 there were workings all along the cliff top (2), then progressing inland (eastwards) until 1889 (3-6), with the final area quarried by 1900 which left two ‘islands’ of untouched stone. (7-8) Tout Quarries were digitally plotted as part of a larger quarrying area, with Trade Quarries and Bowers Quarries to the south, during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset). The quarries were plotted to their extent in the 1940s. See MDO19496 for more details and sources. 19th century limestone quarries which ceased work in 1920 and is now a sculpture park. The majority of the site is formed by an uneven landscape of working faces, massive stone revetment walls retaining waste overburden, and flat-topped spoil heaps. A number of sculptures are displayed around the site. everal stone setts remain of the extensive internal railway system. The remains of a railway junction are preserved at the East end of the site. There are two large round-headed tunnel entrances in this area, now blocked, which gave access to the Immosthay Quarries to the east. Lano's Arch, a railway bridge built of coursed stone in 1854. <9>

Record last edited

Jul 26 2023 2:14PM