Ratcheugh Quarry

Overview

A whinstone quarry on the Whin Sill outcrop east of Alnwick, returning more than a hundred quarrymen in the 1890s and still worked intermittently for rail ballast and aggregate.

History

Ratcheugh Quarry works the Whin Sill where it crops out near Longhoughton, three miles east-north-east of Alnwick. The government Lists of Quarries record whinstone from it in 1896, 1897 and 1905 and igneous rock in 1922, and the employment figures show how the work changed: 111 people in 1896 and 120 in 1897, all but two of them below the quarry face, then 70 in 1905 and 49 in 1922, by which time a quarter of them worked at the surface. In the 1920s it belonged to the Northumberland Whinstone Company, the firm formed in 1876 that had been quarrying at Longhoughton by 1887 and introduced the tramways there, worked at first by horses. The Longhoughton and Ratcheugh quarries were part of one landscape of stone: a layer of Great Limestone lies close to the whinstone here, and quarry railways ran between the workings and the main line at Longhoughton station. Longhoughton Quarry closed in 1974 and is now a fishing lake and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with a vein of calcite formed where the molten whinstone met the limestone. Ratcheugh is still worked from time to time, supplying rail ballast, rock, gravel, sand and aggregate.

Geology

The Great Whin Sill, which crops out across Northumberland as a broken ridge from Fenwick and Bamburgh through the coast at Beadnell, Embleton and Craster to Longhoughton and south of Alnwick. The sill rock is a dark grey to black, fine to medium grained, weakly porphyritic quartz-dolerite. The Great Limestone lies close by.

Workings

An open quarry on the sill outcrop at NU 230 152, worked with tramways to the Longhoughton railway in the whinstone company's day.

Closure

The quarry is still used intermittently, supplying rail ballast, rock, gravel, sand and aggregate for construction.

What remains

In intermittent use. The neighbouring Longhoughton Quarry closed in 1974 and has filled with water.

Related mines

• Barrasford Quarry — Another quarry on the Whin Sill outcrop in Northumberland, worked for roadstone.
• Keepershields Quarry — A Whin Sill quarry in the North Tyne valley.

Nearby mines

• Longhoughton Quarry — 0.0 km N
• Shilbottle Colliery — 7.4 km S
• Whittle Colliery — 10.3 km SW
• Alnwick Moor Bell Pits — 11.2 km SW
• Hauxley Colliery — 12.9 km SE

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 Lists of Quarries record whinstone from Ratcheugh in 1896, 1897 and 1905 and igneous rock in 1922, with 111 people employed in 1896, 120 in 1897, 70 in 1905 and 49 in 1922. ¹
• All but two of the quarry's people worked below the face in 1896 and 1897; by 1922 eleven of the 49 worked at the surface. ¹
• The Northumberland Whinstone Company Ltd owned the quarry in the 1920s. ¹
• The quarry lies at NU 230 152, three miles east-north-east of Alnwick at Longhoughton. ¹
• The Northumberland Whinstone Company was formed in 1876, was quarrying at Longhoughton by 1887 and introduced the tramways there, worked at first by horses. ²
• Ratcheugh Quarry is still used intermittently, supplying rail ballast, rock, gravel, sand and aggregate. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Ratcheugh Quarry (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Longhoughton's Limestone and Whinstone Tramways — Alnwick & District Local History Society

Record created: 23 September 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026