Monks Park Quarry, Wiltshire
Yet another jewel in Wiltshire’s underground war-time crown is Monks Park. Situated in the unassuming village of Gastard, close to (and in-fact connected to Ridge) Monks Park was another important site in Britain’s war effort.
Monks Park was left abandoned & derelict in 2004 by its then-owner Hanson. The above-ground area had become a wasteland. Expensive stone cutting machinery lies in rusted heaps, and historical, interesting wooden carts thrown in a pile, broken & battered. Why they don’t clear up after themselves is baffling but I suspect it’s down to leases running out and then they think, “Sod it, not our problem anymore!”.
Anyway… after a short time taking in the above-ground area, which included the old winch house, we headed towards the slope shaft. Like the other mines in the area, I love walking down these slope shafts (not so much walking up them!) the air turns cooler, the noise of the outside world fades away and darkness surrounds you with only the echoes of footsteps resonating all around… however when you get to the bottom of this particular 212-step shaft a whirring fan can be heard in the distance. That is because in 1997, part of the underground workings were sold by the Royal Navy to local defence company, Leafield Engineering. A tiny hole by the connecting door teases a glimpse into their operations.
Monks Park was mined from 1886 by several different companies, Sumsions, Bath & Portland Stone and Hanson to name a few. It was in 1937 when Monks Park was taken over by the war department for the storage of munitions much like the quarries & mines that surround it, however conversions were never finished and by 1940 it was the only underground working in the Corsham area that still hadn’t been allocated for government use. In 1941 development came to a complete stop. It wasn’t until well after World War Two in the 1950s that Monks Park was returned to and further development took place for storage space with a new vertical shaft put in to accompany the slope shaft.
Monks Park eventually became one of my favourite mines in Corsham, there’s such a nice mix of old & new and over the half a dozen times I’ve explored it, I always found something new – and it was a testament to Monks Park that I never took many photos… always being too busy taking everything in!
UPDATE: Early 2016 saw the reopening of Monks Park by Hanson after the unexpected termination of their lease at the nearby Hartham Park site.
Comments
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Hello, this looks mint! Is the location accessible and allowed?
Nope, not at all anymore.
Does anyone have an update on this place for May 2021? Looking for a filming location!
Hi Nikrim here. Does anyone have any PDF maps for this cave please?
If you’d asked me in 1982 I surveyed the working bits for Marples Ridgway and drew the maps at 1:500. No, I don’t have them, and Marples went bust in 1984
Yeah went there a few weeks back, managed to hop over the fence and get to the start of the lift shaft but a huge metal shutter was down. Did explore the field behind adjacent to Leafield Ind Est and looked down the air shafts which was impressive in itself. Shame really as I am well behind the times and have just discovered all of Wiltshire’s underground world and can’t get to it!
Hello mat have you got a location if possible?
Conor, the location is written at the very top of this page. It’s Monks Park Quarry in Wiltshire. Do some of your own research and you’ll enjoy this hobby a lot more.
Went there today, the place is still in use unfortunately although a lot of the old equipment is still there which was pretty cool. I didn’t bother going into the actual grounds though.
Is this one easy to get in to?
It was Lily, but if you read the report it’s now reopened and in full use.
There’s some old photos! When was that one at the top of the shaft taken?
October 2010 if you can believe that!? Jeez…