History (from Bethel Quarry - Mendip Cave Registry Site Details)
The age of the quarry is unknown. One source has it named after its owner, George Bethell, who built Abbey House, Church Street from the stone in about 1775. However, Bethel Quarry is not shown on an 1841 map of Bradford on Avon but was known to have been extensively worked in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The Bradford on Avon Gazetteer of 1868 shows it under the ownership of by the Rogers family and later worked by the Jones family until about 1910. The 1886 gazetteer records Isaac Jones as living adjacent tot he quarry at 19 Frome road, with his occupation as Quarrymaster & Lime Manufacturer. The Agaric mushroom growing company then bought it. The quarry was requisitioned in 1939, by the War Department and used for the storage of naval optical equipment after some strengthening and reinforcing work.
After the second world war, it was used initially by the Heinz company to grow mushrooms for soup and later by Oakfield Farm Products, also for mushroom production. This finished in September 2010 and the quarry was offered for sale in April 2011.
There's a short video on British Pathe about the mushroom growing: https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/37397/
In 2018 one the largest factories of cannabis was discovered within the mines with an estimated £1,000,000 being discovered: Sacks of cannabis are dragged out of Britain's 'biggest drug factory'
Be aware
Bethel Quarry is trivial to access. According to the report from @Lenston in 2015 some explorers were attacked by someone with a baseball bat.
Ventilation is quite poor and we felt light headed after an hour.
Make sure you wear waterproof boots or wellies and bring some gloves.
The ladder is a long climb up but worth it.
The explore
Taking a friend on their first urbex adventure I decided that the quarry would be a nice location - easy to get to, easy to get in and should be low hanging fruit in terms of 'cool' things for them to see. It took a little explore but the 'cave' entrance is pretty obvious to find and nicely secluded to get into. The 'ladder entrance' meanwhile is in a field nearby but it's not hugely obvious which, we decided to go in via the cave.
Being deep underground the first thing you notice is how extremely quiet it is, you're surrounded by thick rock on all sides and are far enough underground all there is to hear is yourselves. The quarry is also cold, pitch-black and has an atmosphere somewhere between a horror film and a true crime documentary.
Most of the prefabs have been long vandalised but the remains of the cannabis farm is still there (which feels somewhat like exploring an abandoned space station). Overall it's certainly worth a visit and the local pubs make for a pretty decent post-explore meal. Fortunately the graffiti actually makes it relatively easy to navigate.
General state of the place
The canabis factory
Just in case you were tempted
Things get spooky
As if they couldn't get spookier
Ancient runes
God this was a long climb!
The age of the quarry is unknown. One source has it named after its owner, George Bethell, who built Abbey House, Church Street from the stone in about 1775. However, Bethel Quarry is not shown on an 1841 map of Bradford on Avon but was known to have been extensively worked in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The Bradford on Avon Gazetteer of 1868 shows it under the ownership of by the Rogers family and later worked by the Jones family until about 1910. The 1886 gazetteer records Isaac Jones as living adjacent tot he quarry at 19 Frome road, with his occupation as Quarrymaster & Lime Manufacturer. The Agaric mushroom growing company then bought it. The quarry was requisitioned in 1939, by the War Department and used for the storage of naval optical equipment after some strengthening and reinforcing work.
After the second world war, it was used initially by the Heinz company to grow mushrooms for soup and later by Oakfield Farm Products, also for mushroom production. This finished in September 2010 and the quarry was offered for sale in April 2011.
There's a short video on British Pathe about the mushroom growing: https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/37397/
In 2018 one the largest factories of cannabis was discovered within the mines with an estimated £1,000,000 being discovered: Sacks of cannabis are dragged out of Britain's 'biggest drug factory'
Be aware
Bethel Quarry is trivial to access. According to the report from @Lenston in 2015 some explorers were attacked by someone with a baseball bat.
Ventilation is quite poor and we felt light headed after an hour.
Make sure you wear waterproof boots or wellies and bring some gloves.
The ladder is a long climb up but worth it.
The explore
Taking a friend on their first urbex adventure I decided that the quarry would be a nice location - easy to get to, easy to get in and should be low hanging fruit in terms of 'cool' things for them to see. It took a little explore but the 'cave' entrance is pretty obvious to find and nicely secluded to get into. The 'ladder entrance' meanwhile is in a field nearby but it's not hugely obvious which, we decided to go in via the cave.
Being deep underground the first thing you notice is how extremely quiet it is, you're surrounded by thick rock on all sides and are far enough underground all there is to hear is yourselves. The quarry is also cold, pitch-black and has an atmosphere somewhere between a horror film and a true crime documentary.
Most of the prefabs have been long vandalised but the remains of the cannabis farm is still there (which feels somewhat like exploring an abandoned space station). Overall it's certainly worth a visit and the local pubs make for a pretty decent post-explore meal. Fortunately the graffiti actually makes it relatively easy to navigate.
General state of the place
The canabis factory
Just in case you were tempted
Things get spooky
As if they couldn't get spookier
Ancient runes
God this was a long climb!
