Monument record MDR10106 - Grin Works (site of), Buxton

Buxton Lime Company was formed in c. 1855 and considerably extended the existing lime works on Grin Hill. For the first time a direct rail link was made into the lime works from the Cromford and High Peak Railway at Ladmanlow. There were five kilns in the large quarry in 1857, six in 1858, seven in 1859, ten in 1860 and eleven by 1866. By 1880 these eleven are depicted on the first edition 25" OS map as a bank of four, a bank of six and one individual kiln. In 1882 the Company renewed their lease for a further 21 years. They leased the land (111 acres), three cottages and other buildings, the quarry and pits, eleven lime kilns and the branch railway from Ladmanlow for £360 per annum. No further kilns were built at Grin. A network of tramway lines fanned out into the big new quarry and towards the tips which grew enormously from the 1880s. A railway line, still visible, around the south end of the big new quarry was built after 1880 and abandoned before 1921; its purpose is unknown. Adjoining Stables Lane were the stables and workshops for the new quarry complex, and alongside the branch line from Ladmanlow were wagon repair shops. A description of a visit made to the works belonging to the Buxton Lime Company in 1880 noted the 'enormous heaps of debris from the kilns'. Features described include a large Crushing Mill, the Kilns ('about 45 feet in height, open at the top, and about 15 feet in diameter at the widest part'), the tramways and the system of quarrying. In addition to limestone quarrying there was also small scale barytes mining. The lime works were taken over by the Clay Cross Company in 1923. Little is known abut this period of operation; however it appears that lime-burning finished in 1952. The quarry was used in the 1950s to stockpile coal and was re-opened as a roadstone quarry in mid-1967. It was finally closed for good in 1972 following local pressure. It was acquired by Derbyshire County Council who landscaped the enormous white lime tips in 1979-1980; however, they also demolished the large masonry kilns built in 1858-1866. The quarry floor has been transformed into a large caravan site. (1)