Nant Mawr Quarry lay within the lands of the Earl of Powys and prior to 1862 was leased to Samuel Morton and Morgan Jones. When they surrendered possession at the end of that year the new lease was negotiated with R.S. France of the Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway Company – the Potts Line.
By 1870 France had demolished the old malthouse and other buildings there and had invested heavily in new workings, kilns, a tramway system and cottages for his workmen. At the same time, France negotiated a lease to extend the Llanymynech – Nantmawr branch of the Potts Line to service the quarry. He later sold the lease of the quarry to J Parson Smith.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Lilleshall Company had two limestone quarries – one at Presthope, near Much Wenlock and the other at Nant Mawr, purchased from Parson Smith in 1899. By then there was an extensive system of tramways down from the rock face to the railway line with five large ‘running kilns’ and a smithy. Beside burning lime, the company sold limestone for blast furnace flux in steel works. Operations continued there for about 20 years and after a period of closure the quarry was re-opened and used by Amey Roadstone until it finally closed in 1977.
With the ex Coventry 309 EMU carriages now in place, including a cafe car, a display area in front of the kilns is planned for this year.
Text compiled by Shropshire Council Historic Environment Record (HER).
