Monument record 8469/1 - Ironstone Quarry (Kettering Iron Ore Co., Kettering Iron & Coal Co.Ltd.)

{1} Owners from about 1870 Kettering Iron Ore Co, from 21st April 1876 Kettering Iron & Coal Co.Ltd. until closure in 1962.The initial site for the quarries was about one mile north of Kettering railway station and the western side of the Midland main line. At the same time as the company was taken over in 1876 the Kettering furnaces were built and put into blast in 1878 and from then on all the ore quarried was used within the furnaces. For the first few years quarrying took place at the edge of Kettering but from early in the 20th century the quarries began to expand to the west and to the north. Most followed the line of the A6 road almost to Rothwell but some went southwest to Thorpe Malsor and Loddington. The most northerly point of the quarries was at Bunkers Hill Farm in the vicinity of Glendon Hall. After W.W.II. work slackened off and the end of the ironworks was then not far away and was settled when they were taken over by Stewarts & Lloyds in 1959 but the quarries continued to work. In January 1962 it was officially announce that quarrying would cease that year. On 24th October 1962 the last load of ore left the quarries and on the 26th the last British Rail train left with it's load. This being the offical closing day.

<1> Tonks E., 1991, The Ironstone Quarries of The Midlands (History, Operation and Railways): The Kettering Area, p.169-203 (unchecked) (Book). SNN44039.

<2> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, vol. 109 pp.4-6 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

Record last edited

Jan 7 2010 2:24PM