HERBERT’S QUARRY - A LANDMARK OF INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE

Herbert’s Quarry is part of the Mynydd Du SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and the Black Mountain and Mynydd Myddfai Registered Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest in Wales.

It also lies within the Fforest Fawr Geopark. The quarries are as a RIGS (Regionally Important Geodiversity Site), but the archaeological and industrial heritage at the site has so far received much less attention.

The imposing quarry faces and landscapes of lime kilns, quarries and spoil tips of Herbert’s Quarry are a local testament to the development of Wales as an industrial nation. The site is unique in south Wales, and possibly further afield, because the industrial remains document the rise and decline of the lime-burning industry on the Black Mountain over at least 200 years.

As the demand for lime and limestone in industry and agricultural grew, production methods changed, from pre-industrial exploitation to full industrialisation.

Unlike in other lime producing areas where canals and tramroads could be built, the industry at Herbert’s Quarry was served solely by road transport. The lime trade was a factor in the development of Turnpike roads and the network of tracks and roads over the mountain is closely associated with the activity at Herbert’s Quarry.