History
Marden was mainly used for mining firestone. Like Godstone (a short 10min walk away), it also saw service as a mushroom farm in the 19th Century but this stopped during WW1.
The mine was then reopened for the mining of hearthstone. This is essentially the same rock as was quarried for firestone.
During WW2 the site was acquired by James Gardner (owner of Chislehurst Caves) and partly converted for use as a secure bonded store for alcohol and tobacco which had not had duty paid on it and also used as an ammunition store.
The style of working is very different, firestone is quarried in large blocks for use as masonry, the passages tend to be square and stable. Hearthstone is mined in lumps using hammers and wedges, the passages tend to be rough and cut along natural joints in the rock, the end result is usually far less stable than a stone quarry.
Like Godstone there is a lot of dry stone walling to stop slips from occurring, but you'll also notice that the propping is very different, using stone stacks rather than railway sleepers. This is because the miners found out fairly soon that railway sleepers didn't work because of hearthstones very crumbly nature.
The Explore
Let me first apologise for the different style and quality of the photos, I had to use two horrible temp cameras as mine was out of action
I had been researching this and a few other local mines for quite sometime but heard they were near impossible to access as they were heavily secured but when hearing these words my brain done a little dance and said "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED" so I sat down and got planning. The location was found by myself and help from @Porker of the night cheers bro, many hours walking through brambles paid off ey
Now the difficult part, the access, I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me but as always a magician never reveals his tricks and hey presto I was in. I swiftly exited the derp without a trace and got on the phone to the lads and the main trip was a go! My oh my this place is a little gem, packed with some fine exhibits indeed, we all got out with a cracking smile on our faces as well as a few cracked heads o_O, thank you MARDEN it was a pleasure, another one bites the dust!
Now on to the fine derp.
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Thanks for stopping by
Marden was mainly used for mining firestone. Like Godstone (a short 10min walk away), it also saw service as a mushroom farm in the 19th Century but this stopped during WW1.
The mine was then reopened for the mining of hearthstone. This is essentially the same rock as was quarried for firestone.
During WW2 the site was acquired by James Gardner (owner of Chislehurst Caves) and partly converted for use as a secure bonded store for alcohol and tobacco which had not had duty paid on it and also used as an ammunition store.
The style of working is very different, firestone is quarried in large blocks for use as masonry, the passages tend to be square and stable. Hearthstone is mined in lumps using hammers and wedges, the passages tend to be rough and cut along natural joints in the rock, the end result is usually far less stable than a stone quarry.
Like Godstone there is a lot of dry stone walling to stop slips from occurring, but you'll also notice that the propping is very different, using stone stacks rather than railway sleepers. This is because the miners found out fairly soon that railway sleepers didn't work because of hearthstones very crumbly nature.
The Explore
Let me first apologise for the different style and quality of the photos, I had to use two horrible temp cameras as mine was out of action
I had been researching this and a few other local mines for quite sometime but heard they were near impossible to access as they were heavily secured but when hearing these words my brain done a little dance and said "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED" so I sat down and got planning. The location was found by myself and help from @Porker of the night cheers bro, many hours walking through brambles paid off ey
Now the difficult part, the access, I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me but as always a magician never reveals his tricks and hey presto I was in. I swiftly exited the derp without a trace and got on the phone to the lads and the main trip was a go! My oh my this place is a little gem, packed with some fine exhibits indeed, we all got out with a cracking smile on our faces as well as a few cracked heads o_O, thank you MARDEN it was a pleasure, another one bites the dust!
Now on to the fine derp.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Thanks for stopping by
