Elm Park Quarry is situated in Gastard to the east of Velley Hill, the entrance being at the back of the builders merchants. An unusual feature of the entrance is that it is a sloping adit or inclined roadway rather than a slope shaft used in most of the other quarries in the area. The entrance slopes down into the mine whilst the contour of the hill rises. Elm Park Quarry was owned by Neston Estate Fuller family along with a few others and was originally leased to Sheppards of Bath, the stone quarrying here was not as productive as areas further west, mainly due to being harder to cut. Due to earning less money here, quarrymen didn’t favour this site and tended to work it only when forced to, such as when the better quarries such as Park Lane Quarry were flooded in the winter. In 1925 a pneumatic picking machine was trialed here and proved to be quicker but more expensive than hand picking, the picking marks made by this machine are still visible.
Later the quarry was requisitioned at the start of the second world war, and was used as a RAF store for lubricants, the bay numbers can still be seen painted on the walls. In 1942 due to air raids, a heading was sub-let to the University of Bristol for secure archive storage.
The quarry has three air shafts, the first one is found close to the entrance and only about twenty feet deep. this was most likely a trial shaft sunk to a much greater depth. The second shaft is near the end of the adit and the third along a heading at the south western extent of the quarry and would have been made for ventilation. This has a vertical ladder and was used as an emergency exit during later quarrying here. There are no obvious roof falls in this quarry and the ceiling has been strengthened in places. The stone appears to be harder but good quality here and durable, similar to Monks Park stone and prior to 2000 has not been extensively worked. Permission was granted in 1997 for further stone extraction and the quarry started being worked again by Elm Park Stone Ltd. Elm Park Bath Stone Ltd. and Wessex Dimensional Stone Ltd. all controlled by the same people and now bankrupt.
Towards the end of 2004 the Council’s Enforcement Officer was made aware of concerns relating to noise emanating from the quarry being experienced in local residents’ homes along Chapel Hill. Upon further investigation it was found that mining operations had extended outside of the permitted area. The operator was invited to submit an application to regularise the position. Deficient applications were returned to the applicant during 2005 because they were invalid in a number of respects. The then operator of the mine (Elm Park Stone Ltd.) was warned that failure to remedy the unauthorised extension of the mine could result in enforcement action being taken. These were the circumstances when Wessex Dimensional Stone Ltd. took over the mining operations. Conditional permission was granted in 2006 for a further 15 years of stone extraction prohibiting the use of percussion drills – the cause of the noise. In 2016 Ham and Doulting Stone Co. Ltd. applied for permission to extend the quarry to the south connecting it to the Eastlays trial shaft. Permission was granted, but subsequently elapsed in 2020.
As from 2021 all permission to quarry stone at Elm Park Quarry had elapsed and the quarry is currently closed.
Prior to 2000 the total area underground was 66,000 sq. ft.
1900
Elm Park was owned by the Thomas family
1912
The start of quarrying, the first stones being used to build Gastard church. Possibly by Sheppard
1925
Quarry stops due to the hardness of the stone, manual method proves hard going. Horses and carts were used. The hard stone was used for kerbstones.
WW2
Quarry taken over by No. 40 group, controlled by RAF Quedgely in Gloucestershire. The RAF used it to store lubricating oils and similar in drums.
1st March 1941
Elm Park transferred to No.42 Group as a satellite to Ridge Quarry. Now under the control of Flying Officer G.N.R Saltmarsh.
22nd March
Takes on 18 1000lb bombs, taken Harpur Hill as part of a successful experiment.
5th April
A heading, innermost end, was Let to University of Bristol for archive storage. (this ended towards the end of the war)
Jan 1943
Stocks totalled 111 tons of ammunition.
June 1943
A rush output of stocked pre-empted closure as a magazine.
30th July 1943
Stocks left moved to Ridge Quarry
Oct 1943
Quarry transferred to the Admiralty.
1998
Pictors Bath Stone Ltd? secured a new lease including modern planning permission to establish access to the quarry entrance. They spent a lot of money widening the haulage way from the surface to the working levels about 80 meters.
1999
Pictors lost right to Quarry due to planning, engineering & lease issues.
2000
August sees Elm Park Stone Ltd gaining a new lease to extract stone. November Elm Stone blocks are being sold.
2016
Ham and Doulting Stone Co. Ltd. applied for permission to extend the quarry but work was not carried out.
2023 the current permission to quarry stone has elapsed and the quarry is currently closed.
