Wembley Ironstone Quarry

Overview

An opencast ironstone working at Irchester worked by the South Durham Iron Company from the early 20th century until the Second World War, its ore railed to the Cargo Fleet blast furnaces on Teesside; the site is now Irchester Country Park.

History

Wembley Pit was an opencast ironstone quarry at Irchester, Northamptonshire, worked in the Northampton Sand Ironstone at the base of the Inferior Oolite, on land owned by the South Durham Iron Company until 1969. Quarrying ran from the early 20th century through to the Second World War, leaving a working face some 300 metres long and 30 metres high with extensive spoil heaps on both sides of Gipsy Lane; tree planting on the worked-out ground took place through the 1930s and into the early 1940s. Ore was carried by a 3ft-gauge mineral railway to the main line for onward transport to the Cargo Fleet blast furnaces on Teesside, next to the Dorman-Long steelworks that supplied the structural steel for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Geology

Northampton Sand Ironstone at the base of the formation, worked opencast at Irchester.

Workings

Opencast extraction of the Northampton Sand Ironstone at the base of the Inferior Oolite, worked on both sides of Gipsy Lane and served by a 3ft-gauge mineral railway to the main line.

Closure

Quarrying had ceased by the early 1940s, with afforestation of the worked ground recorded through the 1930s and into the early 1940s; the wider estate remained in South Durham Iron Company ownership until 1969.

What remains

The former quarry is now Irchester Country Park, opened 1971, with an Ironstone Heritage Trail and the Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (opened 1987) on part of the original railway maintenance yard.

Spoil heaps, the former quarry face, and the trackbed of the mineral railway, now forming part of the country park's Ironstone Heritage Trail.

Recorded claims

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

• Wembley Pit's working face measured some 300 metres long and 30 metres high, with quarrying on both sides of Gipsy Lane and afforestation of worked ground through the 1930s and early 1940s. ¹
• Ore from Wembley Pit was carried by mineral railway to the Cargo Fleet blast furnaces on Teesside, beside the Dorman-Long steelworks that supplied steel for the Sydney Harbour Bridge. ²
• The Historic Environment Record centres Wembley Pit at SP 91206 66042 over an extent of about 1,350 by 780 metres, dating the working from 1901 to 1941; seven evaluation trenches found topsoil over sealed quarry backfill, the quarry edge showing in one, and the mineral railway that carried the ore to the main line passed under Gipsy Lane at SP 90665 65710, joining the southern and northern workings; Stewarts and Lloyds Minerals drew up afforestation plans in 1951. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Irchester Country Park Opencast (Monument MNN36097) — Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record
2. (secondary) Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum — Wikipedia

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026