Stanton Harcourt Quarry is a former Hanson Aggregates gravel extraction pit located in West Oxfordshire. There are numerous former gravel pits in the area, most of which have now been turned into fishing/recreation lakes and one which was turned into my other favourite place in the world to be, Standlake Arena. As well as the former sites there are still a couple of active works scattered around the area, but most have now been closed and turned into the aforementioned leisure sites.
The site at Stanton Harcourt is fairly difficult to find any concrete history on. It was brought back into use in 2002 after spending eleven years sat idle, and at a guess I would say it was mothballed some time in the last decade however it's difficult to tell. Somewhat annoyingly they had the foresight to cut away the staircase up to the top of the machinery and despite much searching there was no way to climb up it that I deemed worth the risk. The reception/office building was sadly locked tight as well with some pretty beefy locks, apparently it was open at some point before lockdown happened but it would seem that maybe the fishery opposite the main entrance keeps half an eye on it.
The one good thing was the amount of quarry machinery left over, both the main cluster of tumblers/conveyors/sorters as well as a huge amount of older stuff left dumped at the edge of the quarry which looked to have been there for ages.
I wasn't intending on going on an explore but ended up having a wander, so these photos were all taken on my phone.
Thanks for looking
The site at Stanton Harcourt is fairly difficult to find any concrete history on. It was brought back into use in 2002 after spending eleven years sat idle, and at a guess I would say it was mothballed some time in the last decade however it's difficult to tell. Somewhat annoyingly they had the foresight to cut away the staircase up to the top of the machinery and despite much searching there was no way to climb up it that I deemed worth the risk. The reception/office building was sadly locked tight as well with some pretty beefy locks, apparently it was open at some point before lockdown happened but it would seem that maybe the fishery opposite the main entrance keeps half an eye on it.
The one good thing was the amount of quarry machinery left over, both the main cluster of tumblers/conveyors/sorters as well as a huge amount of older stuff left dumped at the edge of the quarry which looked to have been there for ages.
I wasn't intending on going on an explore but ended up having a wander, so these photos were all taken on my phone.
Thanks for looking
Will deffo be paying this place a visit at some point
