King Barrow Quarry

Overhead view of King Barrow Quarry, looking towards The Grove village area.

King Barrow Quarry is a disused site of former 19th century stone quarries, now a Dorset Wildlife Trust nature reserve on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is located in the north-east corner of Tophill. The quarry covers 12.2 hectares.^[1] Both King Barrow and the nearby Tout Quarry make up the Dorset Wildlife Trust's Portland Quarries Nature Park. Portland also has two butterfly reserves; Broadcroft Quarry and Perryfield Quarry.

History and Nature Reserve status

The site is based on former quarries that were abandoned 100 years ago. In the nineteenth century there was extensive quarrying in the area.^[2] When the area was first quarried, huge numbers of Roman coffins, human bones, querns and pottery were discovered, indicating a Roman occupation site.^[3] Since being abandoned the area had been left to regenerate naturally, with the aid of scrub management.^[4] In the extreme South-West corner of the site, at Easton Lane, is a lime kiln and associated buildings. The 19th century lime kiln is Grade Listed II,^[5] and lay in ruin for decades, before becoming a residence and craft workshop.^[3]

Since around 2004 the quarry became a nature reserve after the then-site owners the Hansons handed the quarry over to the Dorset Wildlife Trust.^[6] The quarry then became known as King Barrow Quarries Nature Reserve.^[7] Since the 1970s, the quarry became a popular area for motorbike riders as a safe place to ride. However, once the quarry was designated as a Nature Reserve, the future of the motorcyclists was in doubt.^[3] Within the quarry there are relics of past industrial activities. Various blocks of partly shaped or dressed stone remain, as do pieces of tramway track. A quarryman's hut, which was used as a shelter, still remains, built into one of the retaining walls and can be found through a remaining tramway tunnel. On the eastern side of the tunnel is a gully going northwards out of the reserve. This was the original route of a horse-drawn tramway that took stone from the quarry to the Merchant's Railway.

Wildlife

The quarry's rocky slopes, grassy pockets and sheltered gullies are all havens for wildlife, and therefore features a wide range of plants and animals, hosting flora and fauna specific to limestone soil.^[8] Described as one of Portland's prime nature habitats,^[9] the thin limestone soils have been slowly colonised by a variety of wildflowers with displays of colour in spring and early summer. Within the area, both lichens and bryophytes are plentiful, and various notable plant species include horseshoe vetch, kidney vetch and autumn gentian. King Barrow Quarries is particularly known for its blue butterflies and both adonis and chalkhill blue butterflies can be spotted, whilst the reserve's bird species include whitethroats, linnets, meadow pipits & little owls.^[1]

References

Coordinates: 50°33′19″N 2°26′10″W / 50.5552°N 2.4360°W / 50.5552; -2.4360