Mines in Wiltshire

Wiltshire's mining history is defined by Box, whose underground Bath stone workings — discovered in their full extent only when Brunel drove his Box Tunnel straight through the hill in 1841 — grew into the largest stone mine in the country, a roughly 600-acre maze of passages worked commercially until 1968. Nearby quarries in the same underground complex were later requisitioned for one of Britain's largest wartime ammunition stores and, during the Cold War, the government's own secret underground headquarters.

Record created: 22 August 2026