Clints quarry covers an area of approximately 9 Hectares and can be found adjacent to the A5086 just North of Egremont. Grid Reference NY009 124
Clints quarry's name relates to the large angular blocks of Lime stone that can be seen tumbled around the foot of the cliff walls and in the quarry basin, these are known as Clints or Clintz.
Clints Quarry is ASSSI owned and managed by The Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Access to the quarry is steep and sometimes slippery so wear strong boots, please keep dogs under control, keep to the paths to protect the reserve and leave the flowers, fossils and animals for all to see, but most of all enjoy your visit and come back to see the quarry in all its seasonal glory. Please be aware that there are areas of deep water in the quarry.
The trust purchased the land from Lord Egremont and British Steel in 1984 when it had been disused for some fifty years, just prior to this purchase it was planned to use it as a land fill site!. In the quarry rare orchids such as the Bee, Pink Pyramidal, Early Purple can be seen, the green flowered Common Twayblade can also be found as well as newts, frogs, stickle backs and rare beetles and butterflies. Many mosses, fungi, lichens and moulds can be found growing on the trees, spoil heaps and rock faces. There is a varied population of birds and mammals frequenting the wide range of habitats. The site has areas of scrub, woodland, shallow and deep water, areas of large angular rocks, spoil heaps and of course cliff faces of differing structure, heights and accessibility for all the plant and animal life to enjoy and thrive in.
The quarry is thought to have begun its life in around 1638 as an agricultural lime supply; the lime was used to improve the land around Egremont as the area has thought to have been farmed in one form or another for over 600 years by then. This was only a minor operation until in the 1800's when the Lime stone was mined more industrially to feed, along with the local iron ore, the emerging steel industry.
Clints has a constant management programme that aims to maintain the differing habitats in the quarry without to much disturbance,
Although lime and iron ore is no longer mined or used locally the best railway lines are still made at the Corus plant in Workington. High quality Haematite ore is mined on a small scale at Florence Mine supplying "high end" international trades. Florence is the last deep iron ore mine in Western Europe.
