Nearby settlements such as Collyweston, Ketton and Barnack are historically renowned for the quality of their limestone. Though not as acclaimed, there does appear to be a history of limestone quarrying in Wittering. What does this evidence entail, and what can be pieced together from it?

The area surrounding Wittering has a rich history of limestone quarrying. In neighbouring Barnack a stone called ‘Barnack rag’ was quarried for centuries beginning in Roman times, being used extensively in the construction of Ely Cathedral[1]. Collyweston is famed for the its roofing ‘slate’ which is used across the United Kingdom and beyond[2], and stone quarried at Ketton has been used for a breadth of great houses and university colleges[3].

There is scattered evidence of limestone quarrying also having taken place in Wittering. Few sources mention this stone in any depth, but by piecing together existing evidence it should be possible to establish the essential facts relating to this stone and its place in Wittering’s history.

So with regards to the question of the history of limestone quarrying in Wittering, I will tackle this in three parts:

  • Part 1 – Why: How did Wittering’s geological features make quarrying a possibility, and what made Wittering stone worth quarrying in the first place?
  • Part 2 – How: A look into the methodology of quarrying at Wittering, how stone may have been extracted from the ground and where historic quarrying took place in the village area.
  • Part 3 – Where: An investigation into where stone quarried at Wittering has been implemented, giving specific examples of buildings in the region which feature the stone.
  1. Barnack Parish Council, ‘Barnack Village History’, 2021 <https://web.archive.org/web/20210121005736/http://www.barnackparishcouncil.org/village-information/barnack-village-history/> [accessed 17 May 2021] ⏎
  2. Collyweston Historical and Preservation Society, ‘Collyweston Slate’, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201202091740/https://www.collywestonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/collyweston-slate [accessed 17 May 2021] ⏎
  3. Ketton Parish Council, ‘Ketton Stone’, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201026192644/https://www.ketton.org.uk/ketton-stone [accessed 17 May 2021] ⏎