New CASE Era in Jurassic Stone Quarry

A combination of brand new and old classic machinery are used to extract stone in this historically important Somerset quarry.

Historically there has been quarrying activity in the Stoke Sub Hamdon area since 1598, when an excavation up on Ham Hill was opened up to provide stone for the construction of the late Elizabethan mansion Montacute House, which these days is in the hands of the National Trust.

The hill takes its name from the distinctive and much sought-after golden honey coloured hamstone, a sedimentary limestone which dates back to the Jurassic period. The raw product extracted here has become a favoured choice of stone for architects up and down the country and has been used on such high-profile buildings as Barrington Court, Somerset, Palace Court, London, Sherborne Abbey, Dorset and Knightshayes Court in Devon to name a few.

This much revered stone is only quarried in two locations right on the top of Ham Hill. The North quarry is the oldest of the two workings and the stone there is extracted from just below the surface. We visited the Southern, Norton Quarry which is a deeper excavation where the ham stone is encountered at depths between 20-30 metres. In the wider scheme of things these quarries a relatively small, but nonetheless important for local builders and a wider range of customers across the country. 

The face in the quarry where the stone was originally sourced from for the building of Montacute House, is not allowed to be touched, so effectively its reserved for any potential stone renovation work on the historic building.

Ham Hill Quarry was taken over by the Harvey family in 1982 and there are now three generations of the family involved in the running of the business, not only down in the quarry but up in the masonry works.

For many years excavation of the stone was performed by a CASE Poclain 90B and this venerable old machine is still part of the portfolio of kit down in the quarry, all be it in an un-mobile form as the tracking gear is out of action. This doesn’t stop the machine being part of the production process though, as it is utilised as a rock breaker from its static position in the quarry.

In more recent years the choice of prime excavator was a JCB JS240LC operated by long serving operator Steve Coombes who has worked in the quarry for over 20 years.

Steve was more recently rewarded with a brand-new CASE CX250D hydraulic excavator which has been supplied by M&M Plant Sales Ltd the CASE dealership for Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. Talking about his new mount Steve said, "I like it a lot, it's nice to operate with plenty of power and when the going gets tough, the power boost button on the joystick is a handy feature for what we do here too. It's also incredibly quiet, and the cab is a nice place to spend my days". 

The new machine also works alongside a classic Foden dumptruck which was actually rebuilt by Steve himself as he is a fully trained mechanic too, this ageing, but fully functional old truck ferries the smaller pieces of stone up to the top of the quarry where the team of stonemasons prepare it for specific requirements of customers. 

A JCB 4CX backhoe loader, JCB Telehandler and a number of smaller forklift trucks complete the plant inventory in this historic quarry.

You can read the full story in more detail in the March issue of Earthmovers Magazine which can be ordered as a back issue online, just follow this link to find out more. 

In the meantime checkout our video from the day of the site visit.