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Question
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My Grandad used to work for the Royal Enfield factory in Bradford on Avon. Many of the bikes were stored in the various mines in the Bradford area including Westwood. Could you tell me anything about the history of these mines and why they were dug?
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Question asked on
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22 August 2003
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Answer
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The Westwood quarries, or mines as they were officially known from the late 19th century, were being worked by the 15th century when two are recorded. Small scale quarrying continued through to the 19th century with Westwood stone being used for the Avoncliffe Aquaduct and other canal works in the 1790s. Beds of oolitic limestone, the 'Bath stone', lie under Upper Westwood.
Quarrying activity increased greatly in the last quarter of the 19th century when the large underground quarries that we know today were created. One substantial quarry was owned by a quarrymaster called Godwin while another local firm became part of the Bath Stone Firms Ltd. in 1887. In the 20th century quarrying continued while older underground quarries were used for other purposes. From 1934-1949 parts were used for growing mushrooms underground before operations were transferred to quarries in Bradford on Avon. The company that became Royal Enfield began using the quarries as an underground factory in 1941 for war work and continued until 1969. At the same time other parts were also used for the storage of material from national museums from the latter years of the war until 1957.
The complex of quarries are entered from from the north west of Upper Westwood Farm. Quarrying continued after the war under the Bath and Portland Group and recent buildings constructed of Bath stone include Bradford Library in 1990 and the Priory Hotel in Bath in 1997. There is a very good article by the stone industry historian David Pollard in 'Westwood 2000', compiled by Susan Snailum, ELSP, 2000, ISBN 1 093341 57 4. You can obtain it through your local library.
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Bibliography
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Westwood 2000, compiled by Susan Snailum. ELSP, 2000, ISBN 1 093341 57 4
The Victoria History of Wiltshire, Volume 11. OUP, 1980, ISBN 0 19 722751 1
