Beer Quarry

Beer Quarry is located near the seaside village of Beer close to Seaton and Axmouth in Devon. The Quarry sits to the north of the Beer Quarry Caves which were originally dug by the Romans and was mined in one form or another till 1920.

Beer Stone is a seam of creamy-white chalk limestone deposited during the Upper Cretaceous period as a combination of crushed shell, clay, and sand. The rock seam is only 4m thick and is roughly made of two beds, resting on Cenomanian limestone. The stone at Beer is true 'freestone' that can be sawn or squared in any direction due to the uniform structure of the rock Freshly quarried it is easy to carve but hardens on exposure to the air, turning a beautiful creamy white colour. The stone from Beer has been used in Church construction as well as halls and castles. In Roman times it was used for villa’s, temples and fortifications. The stone has been found in Saxon and Norman churches, and buildings like Westminster Hall and Abbey, the Tower of London, Winchester Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral.

It is unknown who first mined this phase of the Beer quarry. It is different from the workings to the south. The open cast mine extracted the Cenomanian limestone for general building and other uses.

Arc Southern and Hanson Aggregates have used the quarry but it is now used and lies abandoned.