Huncote Quarry

Overview

A Leicestershire granite quarry, worked from 1848 and now standing idle beside its much larger neighbour. Together the two form Croft and Huncote Quarry, a 35.3-hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Croft, which exposes tonalite 452 million years old — Ordovician intrusive rock that helps document the growth of continental crust beneath central England. Croft is one of the county’s super-quarries, producing over two million tons of aggregate a year; Huncote, into which Croft has extended, is not currently worked.

History

Quarrying at Huncote dates from 1848. The intrusive rocks exposed here were among the first in the district to be studied scientifically: Hill and Bonney in 1878, Harrison in 1885 and Fox-Strangeways in 1900 and 1903 carried out much of the initial work on them in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The quarry now forms part of a designated geological Site of Special Scientific Interest along with the adjacent Croft Quarry, into which Croft’s workings have extended. Croft remains one of Leicestershire’s super-quarries; Huncote itself is not currently in use, and part of the site is now the Huncote New Hill Nature Reserve.

Geology

Tonalite, an igneous intrusive rock 452 million years old, of Ordovician age. The exposures at Croft and Huncote help to document the growth of continental crust beneath central England, which is why the 35.3-hectare site is notified as a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Workings

An open quarry, now idle, adjoining and partly absorbed by the working Croft Quarry to the south.

Closure

The quarry is currently not in use, its ground having been taken into the extension of the neighbouring Croft Quarry. No closure date has been established.

What remains

Not currently worked. Part of the site is the Huncote New Hill Nature Reserve, and the whole forms part of the Croft and Huncote Quarry SSSI.

The quarry faces themselves, which are the reason for the SSSI notification.

Related mines

• Croft Granite Quarry — Adjoining quarries in one designation: Croft has extended its workings into Huncote, and the two together form the 35.3-hectare Croft and Huncote Quarry geological SSSI exposing 452-million-year-old tonalite.

Nearby mines

• Croft Granite Quarry — 0.5 km N
• Norwich Chalk Mines — 9.5 km NW, Norfolk
• Merrylees Drift Mine — 11.9 km NW
• Desford Colliery — 13.4 km NW
• Bagworth Colliery — 13.9 km NW

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• The site exposes igneous tonalite rocks 452 million years old, from the Ordovician period, and helps to document the growth of continental crust beneath central England. ¹
• Croft and Huncote Quarry is a 35.3-hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Croft in Leicestershire. ¹
• Quarrying at Huncote dates from 1848. ²
• Hill and Bonney in 1878, Harrison in 1885 and Fox-Strangeways in 1900 and 1903 carried out much of the initial work on these intrusive rocks in the later quarter of the nineteenth century. ¹
• Croft Quarry is one of Leicestershire’s super-quarries, generating over 2 million tons of aggregate a year, while the adjacent Huncote Quarry is currently not in use; the site represents the extension of Croft Quarry into Huncote Quarry. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Croft and Huncote Quarry — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Huncote Quarry — Huncote Parish Council

Record created: 8 September 2026 · Last researched: 8 September 2026