Beer Quarry Caves is a man-made limestone cave complex located 1 mile from the village of Beer, Devon. The caves resulted from 2,000 years of quarrying for Beer stone which was particularly favoured for cathedral and church features such as door and window surrounds because of its colour and workability for carving.

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  • Beer Quarry Caves is a man-made limestone cave complex located 1 mile from the village of Beer, Devon. The caves resulted from 2,000 years of quarrying for Beer stone which was particularly favoured for cathedral and church features such as door and window surrounds because of its colour and workability for carving. Stone from the quarry was used in the construction of several of southern England's ancient cathedrals, Westminster Abbey, and Windsor Castle, as well as for many town and village churches and for some buildings in the United States. It was necessary to quarry into the side of a hill to get to the stone rather than dig down from the surface because of other rock strata above, with the consequence that large caverns were formed. In earlier centuries the quarry men worked long hours by candle light with hand tools such as picks and saws to remove rough blocks of stone often weighing 4 tonnes in a damp environment with a constant temperature of 50f and high decibel levels caused by the sound of the quarrying which was amplified by the echoes in the caverns. The quarrymen were also often supported by child labour. Skilled stonemasons would then work on the stone in the caves because it became harder to carve when exposed to the air. The stone blocks would then be lifted by hand operated cranes after the connection of Lewis lifting devices to be loaded onto horsedrawn wagons. They would then usually be taken to barges which would sail from Branscombe Beach. The caves are also said to have been used by smugglers to hide contraband and for catholics to worship in secret during the times when they were persecuted. Quarrying at the site ceased in the early 20th Century when a new quarry was opened nearby. Some of the caves were then used to cultivate mushrooms and others were used to dump waste from the new quarry. Guided tours of the caves are now run from spring to autumn and they provide a haven for hibernating bats in winter.
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  • Beer Quarry Caves
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  • Beer Quarry Caves is a man-made limestone cave complex located 1 mile from the village of Beer, Devon. The caves resulted from 2,000 years of quarrying for Beer stone which was particularly favoured for cathedral and church features such as door and window surrounds because of its colour and workability for carving.
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  • Beer Quarry Caves
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  • Beer Quarry Caves
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