Tunstead Works

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The combined operation at Tunstead is one of the largest in the UK, extracting between 5 and 6 million tonnes of limestone per annum over recent years. It was established in the 1920s to provide a consistent supply of high purity industrial limestone for use within the chemical and other industries.

Tunstead is the largest supplier of lime and lime-based products in the UK and as such is acknowledged to be of national strategic importance. The powders are manufactured at two sites near to the Tunstead site. The site also produces aggregates for the construction industry.

A new Cement Plant was built in 2004, which now forms part of the UK Tarmac Cement Network. The Plant has a capacity of 1m tonnes, which is shipped all over the country by tanker, rail or in packed bags.

The Tunstead site lies around 4 km east of the centre of the town of Buxton in Derbyshire. It comprises two separate extraction areas – Tunstead Quarry and Old Moor Quarry. The quarries are separated by Great Rocks Dale, a dry valley within which runs a freight railway line serving the two quarries (and others locally) and are connected by a causeway bridge over the railway and stone from both quarries is processed within Tunstead Quarry.

Overall, the operational area is over 340 hectares.

Tunstead, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 8TG