Monument record MDO39725 - Gannetts Quarry, Marnhull

English Heritage, 1997, Monuments Protection Programme Step 3 Report: The Quarrying Industries, Dorset 7 (Monograph). SDO20419.

‘Regarded as the best quality Corallian freestone in Dorset, the Todber Freestone has been quarried between Marnhull and Todber since at least medieval times and was at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the possession of Glastonbury Abbey. In the Marnhull area the sone is a fine white oolitic freestone (Marnhull Sone) which has been much used in the surrounding Stour Valley, including the local church in Marnhull. Near Todber the beds are mottled by iron staining. Here the beds have been more extensively quarried, particularly on both sides of the B3092 at Gannets, having been used in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for lime, and later for roadstone. Presently the creation of Conservation Areas, eg. Abbostsbury, has led to a recent expansion in quarrying at Gannets. Early evidence of quarrying can be seen in the vicinity of Salisbury Street (ST786188) where the houses were built on the undulous ground left by the abandoned quarry areas. The stone is still quarried at Gannets, whilst a large quarry area with extant working face, situated on the opposite side of the road, is now pasture for horses.’

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

Record last edited

Aug 18 2025 5:00PM