Box Freestone Mine, Box, Wiltshire - June 2010

[Urban-Warrior]

Attending: Toad, VW, Petzl & Myself

History courtesy of the interweb

Box Quarry is by far the biggest and most complex of all the Bath Stone mines, it is in fact the largest stone mine in the country with many miles of interconnecting passages.

Stone had been quarried from Box Hill since medieval times using open pits but the extent of the stone was unknown until Isambard Kingdom Brunel came in to town. Brunel built his tunnel through the hill which was completed in 1841. While his many men blasted their way through the hill they became aware of the vast quantities of good quality Bath Stone.

Soon after building the tunnel several local companies started to mine the stone commercially, these companies were Pictors, Nobles and Stones. The mines evolved in a haphazard manner and pass over the top of Box Tunnel. Many of the mines ran in to each other underground causing the huge labyrinth of tunnels we have left behind today.

In the centre of the complex is an area known as the Cathedral, so called because of it's sheer size, it measures 190 feet long, 100 feet high and 25 feet wide at it's centre. In the roof of this chamber there is a large hole about six feet across. All the stone removed from this chamber was hauled through this hole to the surface between the years 1830 to 1850. The roof above the Cathedral is only fifteen feet thick and a row of cottages are partially sited on this.

From Box Quarry you can walk through in to the old MOD areas bordering Tunnel Quarry, this area of Box Quarry was used as an air in take to server the central ammunitions depot using the CDI (Corsham Depot Inlet) fan to draw air through the quarry in to the depots air conditioning system.

on with the pics..

One of the old Burlington Doors..

The Mighty Cathedral

Light Painting by Petzl..

Thanks for looking ​

 

[fluffy5518]

Excellent report !! Good phots and a good write up,hope to be visiting this area shortly !!

 

[tommo]

nice one urban warrior

box is great, if a little hard on the legs in the morning, but a good explore

the crab winch is one of my fav bits of box

 

[King Al]

Excellent selection UE, its great the little brick warriors are still garding/ watching TV I love this place

 

[crickleymal]

I've just seen a report on UK Caving that says that the entrance through the steel fence to Brewers Drift has been gated and it looks like there are survey marks which would indicate that whoever owns the military section now is preparing to wall it off. THis means that areas of Route B12, the Wind Tunnel and the robots may be inaccessible

http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php/topic,9931.0.html

 

[Urban-Warrior]

I've just seen a report on UK Caving that says that the entrance through the steel fence to Brewers Drift has been gated and it looks like there are survey marks which would indicate that whoever owns the military section now is preparing to wall it off. THis means that areas of Route B12, the Wind Tunnel and the robots may be inaccessible

http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php/topic,9931.0.html

Some one on another forum placed a FOI request into the survey and they confirmed they will not be walling it off.. the lines are boundaries of where the survey ends and they are mainly looking into the geological structure and how sound the MOD area is.

Here's a copy of the letter posted...

Request for Information: MOD Corsham Underground Estate

Thank you for your enquiry dated 26 March 2010. This was passed to Defence Estates (DE), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) organisation responsible for managing the defence estate and has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000.

You asked what the operation objectives were for the work that is currently being undertaken at the Browns No 4 underground quarry at Corsham, and what construction/building work is planned for this site, and other underground sites in Wiltshire.

I can confirm that the MOD has information that falls within the scope of your enquiry.

I am advised that Browns No4 (and the whole of the MOD Corsham Underground Estate) is currently being surveyed to determine its current geological condition. This will enable the MOD to further develop plans to manage any issues arising, and to update the asbestos registers accordingly. There is no construction taking placed or planned in the mines other than works necessary to manage them in accordance with the relevant regulations. There is no planned development within Browns No4 Quarry. 

Following recent vandalism by intruders into a restricted MOD property, works are being conducted to enhance and repair essential safety and protective equipment (communication lines, pillar numbering systems and deep excavation barriers) which are required to protect the civilian contractors conducting the above surveys and other authorised visitors. 

There are no further underground mines in MOD ownership within Wiltshire. 

Charlie Green FOI Officer[/I]

 

[professor frink]

Sweet report and images,I need this place in my life.