Bothenhampton Village





Photo from Ridge
The Reserve includes a disused limestone quarry and the ridge of a hill overlooking the coast. It is a mix of woodland, scrub and grassland, which makes it an interesting habitat for birds, mammals, invertebrates and plants.

Bothenhampton (Wanderwell Quarry)

The quarry provided stone for the foundations of buildings in villages as far away as Charmouth, Symonsbury and Loders. Much nearer the Forest Marble has been used for walls and foundations of buildings in Bridport, Bothenhampton and Burton Bradstock. The evidence from buildings shows the quarry has been in use since the 14th century. The quarry has not been worked since the 1930's.
Lime Kiln Lime Kiln - The limestone was transported by horse and cart and later by tipper trucks where it was dropped into the furnace, the oven was stoked by men at the base through narrow gaps in the walls. The resulting lime was raked out at the bottom and used for lime mortor at building works and on the land for agriculture purposes.
Local Geology- The stone of Bothenhampton and Wanderwell Quarry is known as Forest Marble and dates from the Middle Jurassic period and is over 170 million years old. The stone is a shelly limestone of marine origin and runs in a narrow band to the east of Bridport, it lies over Fullers Earth. Path up Quarry