Seend Ironstone Quarry and Road Cutting

Seend Ironstone Quarry And Road Cutting (grid reference ST937610) is a 3 acres (1.2 ha) Geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Seend in Wiltshire, notified in 1965.

Iron ore was quarried and smelted in Seend from the 1850s with three blast furnaces fifty feet high, and employed 300 men. The antiquarian John Aubrey wrote that he discovered iron ore as early as 1666 when it rained so much that it washed away the sand from the ore and the later bright sun reflected on it. Due to the high level of deforestation in the 17th century there was not enough wood to smelt it. The arrival of coal in the 19th century made this possible and mining rights were leased just below the Bell Inn in 1856 where 10,000 tons of ore were mined. The site also had blast furnaces and smelting facilities. The iron works seem to have been out of use by 1876. In 1889 Kelly's Directory stated "Iron ore is found here in abundance and until recently was largely worked."

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw intermittent smelting. There was an influx of men and boys from the outlying area and Ireland and the Black Country to work here. In 1884 complaints were received that Pelch Lane was being badly cut up by the constant haulage of iron ore down the narrow lane. During the First World War, an overhead cable took ore down in large iron buckets to the goods yard at Seend railway station. Boys got free rides up the hill in the empty buckets. After a lull the Second World War renewed demand and the stone was used to provide iron oxide for paint and coal gas. The quarry closed in 1946.

Sources

• English Nature citation sheet for the site (accessed 23 July 2006)
• Wiltshire County Council - Wiltshire Community History

External links

• English Nature website (SSSI information)