History
Oxted Quarry is a site owned by Southern Gravel Ltd (SGL). Those who drive the southern part of the M25 often might have seen it as its quite visible a about mile west of the Clacket Lane services.
The site has been operating from as early as the 1940s and finally came to a close in 2012 when locals complained about the HGV traffic.
Pressure from the locals start in around 2007 when the traffic from the site increased due to increasing numbers of operations on the site. SGL in a what was deemed as somewhat of a panic response closed the site with the aim to convert the area into housing.
In November 2014 the council refused the application to build housing and the site has been left derelict ever since.
Personally, the road going up to the quarry is tiny, winding and very steep and is totally unsuitable to deal with any level of increased residential traffic, let alone HGV traffic. I am hardly surprised at the local residents skepticism to the plans.
The Explore
Me and a friend went to visit here late in the afternoon a couple hours before sunset. To be honest it was a bit of a rush job and I could have happily spent another hour or so there.
First I sent the drone over for a bit of recon and it seemed empty, so in we went.
It would be entirely possible to walk in the entrance as it wasn't gated, however to play it safe I found a more desecrate way in. Aside from a bit of barbed wire, no issues here.
For a site that has been abandoned for only a few years, its really not in a good state. There was some interesting things going on there as well as some rather odd finds.
Unfortunately there was some lights and signs of some kind of activity on the lower portion of the quarry towards the entrance, so I didn't get to see as much of it as I wanted. A re-visit at some point might be in order.
Aerial Shots
The Quarry
Under the Lean-to there were boxes of helicopter rotors as well as what appeared to be gearboxes.
If anyone can enlighten me what they are doing here, I'd be curious to know.
The building behind seemed pretty sealed up, no idea what was inside it.
Thanks for reading!
Oxted Quarry is a site owned by Southern Gravel Ltd (SGL). Those who drive the southern part of the M25 often might have seen it as its quite visible a about mile west of the Clacket Lane services.
The site has been operating from as early as the 1940s and finally came to a close in 2012 when locals complained about the HGV traffic.
Pressure from the locals start in around 2007 when the traffic from the site increased due to increasing numbers of operations on the site. SGL in a what was deemed as somewhat of a panic response closed the site with the aim to convert the area into housing.
In November 2014 the council refused the application to build housing and the site has been left derelict ever since.
Personally, the road going up to the quarry is tiny, winding and very steep and is totally unsuitable to deal with any level of increased residential traffic, let alone HGV traffic. I am hardly surprised at the local residents skepticism to the plans.
The Explore
Me and a friend went to visit here late in the afternoon a couple hours before sunset. To be honest it was a bit of a rush job and I could have happily spent another hour or so there.
First I sent the drone over for a bit of recon and it seemed empty, so in we went.
It would be entirely possible to walk in the entrance as it wasn't gated, however to play it safe I found a more desecrate way in. Aside from a bit of barbed wire, no issues here.
For a site that has been abandoned for only a few years, its really not in a good state. There was some interesting things going on there as well as some rather odd finds.
Unfortunately there was some lights and signs of some kind of activity on the lower portion of the quarry towards the entrance, so I didn't get to see as much of it as I wanted. A re-visit at some point might be in order.
Aerial Shots
The Quarry
Under the Lean-to there were boxes of helicopter rotors as well as what appeared to be gearboxes.
If anyone can enlighten me what they are doing here, I'd be curious to know.
The building behind seemed pretty sealed up, no idea what was inside it.
Thanks for reading!
