Greenleighton Walk: The Quarry
Location: 55.225793 -1.948753 (NZ 03358 92398)
At the top of the quarry at the north west cormer.
Greenleighton limestone quarry was in action as recently as 1982 and in total yielded two million tonnes of limestone. The older section was quarried as early as 1777 and used into the 1800s. This quarry has been classified as a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) since 1969. It is of importance for the rich marine shell faunas contained in the Great Limestone and the shales above, including the type material for Pleuropugnoides greenleightonensis.
Most of the limestone was quarried and burned in limekilns to provide local supplies of quicklime and slaked lime for use as an acidity reducing soil improver. The Great Limestone in the north east is still worked on a large scale, mainly as a source of crushed rock aggregate and as armour stone for coastal defence work.
During medieval times the hill above Greenleighton Quarry was the site of fire beacon which would have been visible for many miles. A replica fire beacon can be seen in the walled garden at Wallington. looking to the north you can see the imposing Simonside Hills.