Quarries of the Mendip Hills

The Mendips comprise three major anticlinal structures, each with a core of older Devonian sandstone and Silurian volcanic rocks.

Carboniferous Limestone, dominates the hills and surround the older rock formations.

For centuries the stone of the Mendips, and the Cotswolds to the north, have been used to build the cities of Bristol and Bath, and many Somerset towns.

The Mendip quarries produce twelve million tonnes of stone a year, employ two thousand people, and have an annual turnover of £150m.

[2] Five million tonnes of stone per year is transported by Mendip Rail.