Whatley quarry has been operating since the 1930s and supplies crushed limestone aggregate to local markets by road and to depots in London and South East England via its dedicated rail link.
Situated between the villages of Mells and Chantry, four miles west of Frome, Whatley is Heidelberg Materials’s biggest quarry, producing around six million tonnes of aggregate a year. There is also an on-site plant for making asphalt and ready-mixed concrete. The site extends to 173 hectares, of which 120 hectares comprise the limestone extraction site, with limestone reserves of around 100 million tonnes.
As well as employing over 60 people, plus many more in our supply chain of contractors and support staff, we actively support local initiatives and programmes. We regularly host school and college visits and Whatley quarry has been included as a research site in our parent company Heidleberg Materials’ Quarry Life Awards, aimed at supporting and increasing biodiversity at mineral extraction sites.
Blasting usually takes place on Tuesdays, Thursday’s and Friday’s and we plan operations so that, wherever feasible, blasting is scheduled for 12.15.
Local residents can sign up to receive our free blast notification text messages, which include a weekly update setting out planned blast times for the week ahead, plus a follow-up notification approximately half an hour before each blast takes place. To receive the free notifications email us at: whatley.quarry@uk.heidelbergmaterials.com
To find out more about activity at Whatley see recent issues of our regular Community Update newsletter.
Westdown quarry:
To the west of Nunney, there is evidence of quarrying going back 500 years. Westdown quarry itself is thought to have started operations in the 1940s – supplying aggregate to support post-war reconstruction. By the 1970s, operations expanded to combine with Asham quarry next door and included a concrete and asphalt plant.
Although no activity has taken place since the 1980s, planning permissions for Westdown quarry remain in place until 2042. Our application to update existing planning consents at Westdown was submitted to Somerset County Council early in 2021, following local pre-application consultation. Subject to approvals, we would aim to start work preparing the site later this year, with extraction operations resuming in 2023.
More information on our future plans for Whatley and Westdown quarries is available in see our vision section and FAQs.
