Cliffe Hill Quarry

Overview

A Charnwood Forest quarry on the southern edge of the syenite outcrop, worked since 1868 for what is commercially sold as granite, and still active today as part of Midland Quarry Products.

History

Quarrying at Cliffe Hill began in 1868. Two Birmingham businessmen, Mr Jones and Mr Fitzmaurice, developed the site to supply street setts and kerb stones, but the venture closed between 1881 and 1891; J. R. Fitzmaurice, son of one of the original partners, reopened it in 1891 and re-equipped it with modern machinery, taking output to 10,000 tonnes a year. The Cliffe Hill Granite Company was formally established in 1894, built a mineral railway in 1896, and by 1935 had bought the freehold from Fitzmaurice outright; by 1964 the firm comprised Cliffe Hill Granite and seven subsidiaries. Tarmac Roadstone acquired the company in 1965. In 1997 Cliffe Hill became part of a joint venture between Tarmac and Hanson under the name Midland Quarry Products (MQP), and Hanson took full ownership in 2013 after Tarmac was required to divest its share on regulatory grounds. MQP continues to work the quarry today.

Geology

Syenite of Charnwood Forest, on the southern edge of the outcrop, sold commercially as granite.

Workings

Quarries a true syenite (pink feldspar and green hornblende), sold commercially as granite, worked for aggregate, road-building setts and kerb stones, and today for railway ballast and asphalt products.

Closure

Still an active working quarry under Midland Quarry Products.

What remains

An active quarry, part of Midland Quarry Products (a Hanson-owned joint venture), extracting aggregate and supplying an on-site asphalt plant.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Cliffe Hill stone is a true syenite of pinkish feldspar and green hornblende, though commercially sold as granite. ¹
• Cliffe Hill Granite Company purchased the quarry's freehold from J. R. Fitzmaurice outright in 1935, and by 1964 comprised Cliffe Hill Granite and seven subsidiary companies before Tarmac Roadstone's 1965 acquisition. ²
• Cliffe Hill became part of a joint venture between Tarmac and Hanson, trading as Midland Quarry Products, in 1997; Hanson took full ownership in 2013 after Tarmac was required to divest its share on competition grounds. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Past Times: A brief history of Croft — Hinckley Times
2. (primary) History — Midland Quarry Products

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026