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GEOLOGY
About 350 million years ago, most of the Peak District was under a shallow tropical sea. The fossilised remains of the plants, shellfish and corals in this sea have formed what is now the Limestone that lies under the White Peak area of the Peak National Park. Over the next few million years, sands, gravels and mud were deposited to form the Millstone Grit and Shale of the Dark Peak. Movements in the earth’s crust, caused cracks in the limestone and hot gases and liquids crystalised in these cracks to form veins of minerals. Mineral extraction (quarrying and mining) has been an important industry in the Peak District for hundreds of years.
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| Geology of the Peak District National Park |
As early as Roman times, limestone was quarried in the Peak District to use as building stone and in making mortar and cement. The limestone in this area is often very pure (high in Calcium Carbonate) and has many uses. It was used in agriculture and limeburning for use on the land, was mentioned in 1521. Lime kilns (for burning limestone) were a familiar sight in the Peak District. Lime was also used in lead smelting. The cutting of canals and later the opening of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, helped the movement of lime out of the area, to be used in building and other industries.
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Darlton Quarry
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There are 12 main active quarries in the Park. The largest quarries are:- Hope (owned by Blue Circle), Tunstead/Old Moor (owned by Buxton Lime Industries Ltd a subsidiary of Minorco, formerly owned by ICI), Ballidon (owned by Tilcon), Darlton and Eldon Hill. Limestone from the Peak District is supplied to the East Midlands, North Western and Yorkshire regions.
During the 1980s, limestone was increasingly used as aggregate. The limestone quarried from the Peak National Park in 1989 was used as follows:-
| Aggregate (roadstone etc) Cement Chemicals Iron and Steel Agriculture |
56% 23% 17% 4% 0.2% |
The feeling has grown that this may be an extravagant use of a product from a National Park, and after reaching a peak in 1991, the production of limestone has been decreased.
| 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
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| Aggregate | 3.1 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Non-Agg | 1.9 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Total | 5.0 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 6.6 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
Environmental Impact
The quarrying of limestone can cause noise and disturbance, can leave scars on the landscape and may pollute the air with dust. There are fewer quarries in the Park now than earlier in the century, but they are much larger. This trend helps to reduce the impact on the environment, as the area of damage is restricted. Larger companies (who work the larger quarries) are also more likely to be able to afford to manage the quarries well. Good management will mean the control of dust pollution and more emphasis on the restoration of the site. They will also employ landscaping staff to plan this restoration work.
Transporting the stone on large lorries adds to congestion on the roads and causes damage in narrow village streets with houses close to the road. One solution to this is to transport the stone by rail. The quarries at Tunstead and Hope have direct rail links with British Rail.
