Report - Addington palace old chalk quarry

[vegan420]

After looking at various stuff in the area I came across this place on an old map so decided to go check it out.

I'm guessing it was part of king Henry the 8ths estate which was much larger than where addington palace now sits. These a lot of history in the area dating back to the doomsday books...

Searching online I found this

So I park up on the village road there and its just across that playing field in the wooded area behind the hut, there's various plant matter been dumped in there from the caretakers to that field

My question is do chalk quarries have tunnels?

Is this cliff face where there would be an entrance or do they just dig out a hole area like a big ditch?

 

[DaveFM]

Some chalk quarries may have mine workings but many are just open pits, chalk mining in that area was usually be way of Dene Holes, vertical shafts with small chambers excavated at the base. Some of these survive but most are either lost or been filled in. Your pit at Addington looks like just a small open quarry but there were large underground mines for chalk around northeast Kent/southeast London, as at Chislehurst, Crayford and Plumbstead.

 

[vegan420]

Does look like one big pit basically that whole wooded area you see on google maps is all a pit but it has two faces that I've pictured. I don't think il be digging out to have a look lol

 

[DaveFM]

Theres a huge number of chalk mines listed on Aditnow for that general region but quite a few of these are filled deneholes. An interesting chalk quarry in Kent is the Halling chalkpit, near Rochester, it was dug out by dragline beneath the water table leaving a clear lake about 120ft deep, its famous for its deep blue colour. The big former cement works next to it is now demolished and having housing built.

 

[vegan420]

Aw wow il have to check that place out, it sounds amazing, I found a few dene holes some which are documented online but I've never found an open shaft. Do you think this dene hole here is a sink hole or dene hole, if you look a badger or fox has dug an entrance I wonder what's down there lol

It's documented as a possible dene hole but never been dug out also on the tree seems to be where a sign once sat, I wonder what It said!