Deep Grove Alum Quarry - spoil from the workings
Alum is a chemical used principally in the textile industry for fixing dyes. It is not found in a natural state in Britain but was manufactured from some types of shale found along the Cleveland and North Yorkshire coast. The Alum industry was the first chemical industry in Britain. Production began in the early 17th century. The industry flourished in the north for 200 years until the mid-19th century when it was overtaken by new techniques using shale from coal mining.
The Alum works comprised two main processes: the quarry where extraction and initial processing took place, and the alum house where final processing took place. Alum shale was extracted from quarries sited on steep inland hillsides or coastal cliffs. Initial processing on the quarry floor consisted of calcination by burning shale in clamps, and the production in settling pits of alum liquor.
The Deep Grove quarry was one of three quarries on the Sandsend coast that were worked between 1720 and 1860. The Whitby to Loftus railway was constructed through the quarry after it closed.
Historic England listed it as a Scheduled Monument in 1998.
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/101813...
Deep Grove Alum Quarry - spoil from the workings
Alum is a chemical used principally in the textile industry for fixing dyes. It is not found in a natural state in Britain but was manufactured from some types of shale found along the Cleveland and North Yorkshire coast. The Alum industry was the first chemical industry in Britain. Production began in the early 17th century. The industry flourished in the north for 200 years until the mid-19th century when it was overtaken by new techniques using shale from coal mining.
The Alum works comprised two main processes: the quarry where extraction and initial processing took place, and the alum house where final processing took place. Alum shale was extracted from quarries sited on steep inland hillsides or coastal cliffs. Initial processing on the quarry floor consisted of calcination by burning shale in clamps, and the production in settling pits of alum liquor.
The Deep Grove quarry was one of three quarries on the Sandsend coast that were worked between 1720 and 1860. The Whitby to Loftus railway was constructed through the quarry after it closed.
Historic England listed it as a Scheduled Monument in 1998.
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/101813...