Former Brockham Limeworks

 quarry, nature reserve

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The Brockham Limeworks grew up in the first half of the Nineteenth Century and by 1866 were being operated by Messrs Elsdon, Swan and Day. Around 1890, the works were amalgamated with the neighbouring Crabtree Brickworks into The Brockham Brick Co. Ltd under the management of Alfred Bishop who developed the patented Bishop's Kiln here.

Hearthstone, a product chiefly used to whiten stone and occasionally for building was also quarried underground here and in 1911 when the Brockham Brick Co. was wound up, all three works were amalgamated into the Brockham Lime and Hearthstone Co. Ltd, which continued to work the quarries and brickyards until closure in the summer of 1936.

In 1961, the Narrow Gauge Society realised the potential of the old limeworks with its extensive system of both narrow and standard gauge rail tracks and in 1962 opened the Brockham Narrow Gauge Museum. The museum was a success for many years, and is perhaps most famous as the filming location for the 1975 Doctor Who Omnibus 'The Deadly Assassin' in which the the narrow gauge engines themselves played a part.

Unfortunately in 1984, complications with the site meant that the museum had to close. Its collection was relocated to Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in Sussex. The site is now a nature reserve managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.