TITTERSTONE CLEE - INDUSTRY

The rocks of the Clee Hills have been the basis of industrial activity for centuries. The following cross-section through Titterstone Clee shows how some of the industrial development is related to the underlying geology.

COAL

Mining of coal started in a basic form in Medieval times with the construction of small bell pits which have resulted in a distinctive pattern of random "craters", with some of the best examples seen in the vicinity of Crumps Brook. Some of these areas have now been scheduled by English Heritage as Ancient Monuments. The nineteenth century saw the exploitation of the four productive coal seams at places where they were below the doleritic sill. Strangely, deep shafts were dug through the sill rather than driving adits from the side of the hill below the sill. The visible remains of this activity is a large number of quite extensive colliery tips, clearly on a bigger scale than those of earlier bell pits. A branch line was constructed from the mainline near Ludlow to Bitterley wharf in the 1870s where it was fed by standard gauge inclines from Titterstone and Dhustone. Both were fed in turn at their upper ends by a complex network of tracks taking stone from the quarry faces.

LIMESTONE

The two Carboniferous Limestone outcrops, on the north-eastern and southern margins of the outlier, have been exploited for many centuries as a source of limestone for burning to lime and to a lesser extent as building stones.

The oolitic limestone of Oreton Quarry was used as and ornamental stone known as Oreton Marble.

Today there is very limited exposure of the limestone on accessible land. It is our hope to encourage the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, owners of Knowle Wood (SO597836), to expose some of the rock face in this overgrown quarry. In the vicinity of Oreton although the limestone ridge is a prominent topographical feature there is little access to exposures.

DOLERITE

After the mining came the quarrying. The dolerite had been a hinderence to the coal miners but came into its own for paving the streets of the ever expanding Victorian towns. The nature of the jointing (which allowed it to be split vertically as well as horizontally) and the hardness of the rock meant it was ideal for the production of 'sets'.  These are no longer produced here but the rock is still used for roads as well as for sea defences and as rock wool for insulation. It was this industry that sparked off the growth of Cleehill village.

OTHERS

There was an iron furnace down Cornbrook Dingle making use of the local Coal Measures ironstone. Little remains of this other than remnants of slag (a glassy material) from the furnace. Similarly there is some evidence of a glass works in the same area. There are also signs of old brick works in the area.