The following scrawl, scratched into a pillar in angry Norman French deep within the workings: “Master mason, you built your cathedral towards heaven. With stone that was quarried from hell.”
Haunted Devon

History of Beer Quarry Caves

: Hauntings; 26 March 2021; Hits: 3937; Rating:

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Within the quarry embedded in the dust Roman artefacts have been discovered.

Main entrance into Beer Quarry Caves where a Roman coin had lain undiscovered for 2000 years.

The Beer Stone Quarries are found about 1 mile or 1.6 km. west of Beer Village on both sides of the road to Branscombe. Beer stone is renowned for being a fine-grained limestone laid down in the Cretaceous period – between 65 and 140 million years ago. Upon entering the caves, you find yourself in the museum section which also happens to be the oldest part of the subterranean complex excavated by the Romans who founded the quarry probably using slaves from local tribes. This would have been sometime soon after the 2nd Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD, or possibly as early as 50 AD. The caves were then worked continuously for nearly two thousand years. The vast underground caverns were started by the Romans, who began the earliest workings in open quarries gradually working to the back where the desirable stone was concealed and lay 200ft beneath impenetrable rock making it impossible to excavate from the surface and therefore only accessible by quarrying into the side of the hill. Today the original tool marks can be seen in the chips and divots of the Roman chambers which is typified by large hewn arches which support the high ceilings and hand excavated using picks and wooden wedges and tall columns. The estuary of the River Axe at the time, provided a safe harbour for the removal of the stone by boat and transported to its destination to be used in the erection of villas etc. Beer stone was used in the Roman villa of Honey ditches, Seaton.

Evidence of Roman occupation is confirmed by the discovery of a Roman brooch and a bronze 1st century Roman coin in good condition which was discovered by the entrance during explorations of the quarry. The coin depicts the Emperor Caligula on the obverse side and a prancing horse on the reverse and would have been minted in Spain and probably brought to England by a member of one of the occupying Roman legions. It is one of only four such coins found in Britain and is owned by John Scott, then curator of Beer Quarry Caves.

Also uncovered was a piece of jewellery, a bronze brooch which dates to the third century and was found just inside the Roman entrance where they quarried for stone to make their villas.

These are just two of the many historical artifacts that have been recovered. Others include 4^th century pottery that give an insight into the 2000-year history of the site, the largest underground workings in the south of England that stretches back roughly 400 meters and approximately 40 acres underground.

Roman archways give way to square Anglo Saxon vaults of 530AD easily characterised by sharp, squared cornered pillars. The Norman workings join directly having been worked deeper into the hillside and are typified by large rectangular columns which support the roof and includes several smaller side galleries. The Norman area is the Quarry’s largest and is often described as an underground cathedral for its echoing expanse.

The Bishops of Exeter leased the quarries for centuries. The reformation in 1540 saw the collapse of ecclesiastical demand for Beer Stone, however, a stone chamber was carved to be used as a Chapel by Catholic worshippers by order of the Lord of the Manor, providing a place of refuge for Catholics during times of persecution and where secret masses could be held within their darkened depths without fear of discovery.

The intricate decorations that once adorned the illicit Catholic sanctuary were stolen from the cavern in the twentieth century. These artefacts are now rumoured to decorate the private chapel in the Houses of Parliament. Today an ornate corpus Christi placed at the rear identifies the chamber.

The caves also made a perfect hiding place for smugglers to hide their contraband in the 19^th century.

With the arrival of the Victorian era there came a resurgence in church building and rebuilding of older churches which led to a surge in demand for beer stone which remained high throughout the 19th century creating the largest underground working in the country but gradually this changed as demand dwindled in the early 20th century.

Evidence of one roof-fall, although there are apparently two in the quarry rumoured to have been caused deliberately to make it look unstable to prevent the quarry being taken over by the Admiralty during the war.

During World War 2 ammunition was stored although it was soon realised that the caves were too damp, and it was then used to grow farm feed as well as provide shelter from falling German bombs.

In the 1950s some caverns were then used to cultivate mushrooms and force grown Rhubarb which was harvested and packed into wooden boxes and stored in the cool damp climate to keep the produce fresh. The cultivation soil lines remain to this day with the remains of the packing counter.

The cave system was a designated nuclear bomb shelter for the whole of East Devon during the Cold War, 1946/7-1991, when tensions with Russia were at an all-time high.

14th April 1984 the quarry opened to the public under the supervision of John Scott, who having known the caves since his childhood, saved them from being blown up with the financial aid of Mrs Gladys Gray, so that its story and place in history and its part in some of England’s infamous landmarks would be preserved for future generations.

Outside, the caves are the only place in the country where you can see two exposed tectonic plates. This fault line is visible in one of the tunnels which is closed of as it is deemed precarious as it could easily collapse at any point.

Beer Quarry caves has been used as a filming location, temporarily renamed Bosterman Caves in the hit drama series Harbour Lights starring Nick Berry of EastEnders fame, Season 2, episode 6 (2000). It was also used in the 24-minute low budget film entitled “Eternal: A Star Wars Fan Film (2017)”. A short tour of the caves featured on Chanel 5s tv series “Kate Humbles Coastal Britain” season 1- Dorset featuring the manager Steve Rodgers, who provided interesting dialogue recounting the history of the caves and some of the names connected with them.

More recently the caves have proved to be popular for a variety of events from performances of folk music to Halloween parties and supplied an atmospheric venue for the Four of swords theatre and their production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Picture By Matt Austin

Further excavations of tunnels are planned for the future and are expected to reveal a network of tunnels that have been blocked for over 500 years. What will be uncovered is anyone’s guess but hopefully more of the quarry’s history and of those who worked within these locations will be unearthed.

Quarrying industry and stonemasonry

“Master mason, you built your cathedral towards heaven, with stone that was quarried from hell.” English words of a French poem of unknown authorship.

The quarry work force would have consisted of quarrymen and masons, labourers, helpers etc. Women and children some as young as 8 years old faced dangerous and appalling work conditions. Beer women and children were used for domestic tasks and men for the muscle work. The latter fell into two categories – “unskilled” quarrymen who were paid 3 shillings a week (with deductions for poor work) and “skilled” stonemasons who got 21 shillings a week (with bonuses for good work).

Pickaxes were the tools used but in the early 18th Century saws were introduced, but were mainly used for pillar robbing, some of which were nicknamed razor, bob and frig bob were introduced for cutting the rock, and this also sped up 'pillar-robbing': a technique (removing additional material from the sides of pillars) to be found in many quarries but it is particularly noticeable at Beer where saws have been used to rob pillars in areas originally quarried with picks.

Working conditions were appalling. When the workers arrived to start their gruelling 14-hour day, 6 days a week, they were greeted by total darkness until along the tunnels, pinpricks of light would gradually appear as children as young as eight were forced to climb ladders to set lighted candles in holes cut in the rock face. Today the smoke burns on the walls, preserved by the underground atmosphere can be clearly seen. Their other duties included feeding the horses while underground.

Not many photographs exist of the working quarry as the camera had just been invented just as the quarry shut down.

The work was not only hard labour, but the working environment was foul. The stench of 600 sweating bodies, raised voices, black greasy smoke which hung from the roof from the tallow (animal fat) candles, the foul stink of 100s of sweaty, defecating livestock and no ventilation must have been gut retching. The noise would have been deafening with 600 men swinging pickaxes, the sound of wagons, the noise from the livestock, the sound echoing through the caves meant anyone working in that environment would have lost their hearing in time and is where the term “stone deaf” derived from. Human life was cheap in the caves and few quarrymen lived beyond their thirties, having started work in the caverns at the age of 8 or 9.

We have put together this audio clip to provide a basic idea of how noisy it may have been chiselling way within the confines of the cave complex with the sound bouncing round the chambers.

Working in teams of 5-6 young men, one brave young soul crawling on his stomach, would wield his pickaxe to remove just enough stone on the top and sides of the block. After the top and sides of the block were freed, steel wedges were hammered into the base of the stone to effectively loosening the prize block in readiness for a stonemason – the ‘touchstone’ – would come to inspect the quality of the stone to hear if it “rang true” in retort to his expert strike upon it. Since quarrymen were only paid if the stone was of sound quality, men would wait with bated breath for the stonemason’s approval if a stone failed the test, then the workers would smash it into rubble and the quarry men were not paid and be out of pocket as each man had to purchase 5 tallow candles from the owner each morning.

Once approved the block would then be lifted by hand-operated cranes and a Lewis bolt: The stonemason's Lewis is a grapnel, for which a specially shaped socket needs to be cut in the top face of the block of hard, strong stone that is to be lifted however a Lewis could break away in a heavy block of soft stone. Two opposite sides or ends of the socket are undercut, not all four as often pictured. Two projecting wedge-shaped, tapered steel keys are introduced into the socket, and between them is inserted a parallel steel spacer, which spreads the wedges into the undercut parts; then a shackle-pin, or bolt, is passed through the upper extensions of all three, and provides a hold for the lifting chain. The illustration clearly shows how the device works.

The precise purpose of the Lewis is to allow the hoisting chain of the derrick, or crane, to raise the stone and then lower it into its exact, final position in the wall, which could not be affected if chains or ropes passed underneath the stone. With the stone in position, the shackle bolt is removed, thus allowing the spacing piece to be withdrawn followed by the two wedges. Stone blocks would then be lifted with ropes and pulleys onto awaiting horse-drawn wagons which would then transport the stone to its designated location, usually barges sailing from Beer Beach.

Steve described how the Lewis and cranes were used inside the quarry.

Around the quarry, a significant but now vanished industry developed, where over 400 horses lived in the fields around the caves. Dozens of farriers were employed to keep the horses shod and a huge collection of carpenters built and renovated the great carts that took the stone around the country. Young children were also employed to keep the animals fed and watered in the quarry during the long hours of labour. An example of the work performed by the horses and the part they played within the quarrying industry is the fact that a team of 26 horses pulled a 24-ton block of stone out of the quarry and transported it to Exeter cathedral and that it took two weeks to get there. Today, the journey by car takes just 40 minutes.

This Colyton window tracery was carved and used before Columbus landed on American soil. Surprisingly constructed from 30 pieces, all hand carved within the cave. A selection of discarded tools to the left covered in sediment.

The inequality of treatment of quarrymen and stonemasons led to bitterness directed at the better paid masons of Beer Quarry Caves. The stonemasons were held in high regard and received as many candles as they needed for free, their scorch marks peppered on the wall by the dozen, distinguishing a mason’s workshop from other recesses. They who would often visit the site, sourcing blocks and working them underground, in their softer, still moist, form, which allowed the carving of intricate details, often described as easy as carving butter being creamy white in colour before being taken above aground where it would dry five times. Hard working, labouring quarrymen were restricted to five candles each, that they had to pay for at the beginning of their working day.

The masons jealously guarded their trade secrets and kept the local quarrymen at bay, keeping to their brotherhood their valuable stone carving skills. Many of the masons were part of what today would be considered a trade union, the Freemasons whose symbolism includes many of the tools used by the stonemasons including the Lewis bolt.

In 1868 William Cawley finally became a stone mason, his name can be found on one of the walls within the cave, the caves where his grandfather’s body had been discovered several years prior. His grandfather had been involved in the smuggling trade, enabling him to earn extra money for the family, but sadly in 1801, while carrying a barrel of contraband on his back he fell and died. As he hadn’t returned home the alarm was raised and his body was found with the booty, laying against a hedge. It was quickly decided that his body should be placed inside the quarry caves so his demise would look like a fatal accident and his family saved from questioning and accusations from the customs men.

When his grandson William was born in 1849, his widow Mrs Cawley and Williams mother decided that he would not follow his grandfather as a quarryman so scrimped and saved, worked to the bone to fund an apprenticeship as a stonemason, thus giving him a lifelong trade. As William approached 19yrs of age the money began to run out. His plight came to the attention of the local clergy who came to his aid using a community collection given to William’s grandmother for the young man to complete apprenticeship which he did in 1868.

Steve recounted the tale of William Cawley during the site tour.

The carved Beer stone would then be shipped out and used in the construction of notable buildings like The Tower of London, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Peak House Sidmouth, Rochester Castle, St Paul's Cathedral, Windsor Castle, Winchester Cathedral and St John the Baptist Cathedral, Norwich. World-renowned for its colour and texture and Exeter Cathedral where it has been used for some of the cathedral’s sculptures and window tracery.

Excerpt from the Fabric Roll for Rochester Castle listing purchases of stone from Beer Quarry.

Beer stone was exported as far as Missouri to be used in building Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis The delivery of stone included of 52 religious figures and biblical scenes, the reredos was carved between 1909 and 1911 and were shipped in 230 cases to the Cathedral.

Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis exterior and the magnificent reredos.

Further research revealed that Beer stone was also used for arches and pillar facing in Berry Pomeroy castle. Although the arches are now long gone, the pillar bases and a twin seat in the still remain.

Column pedestals faced in fine Beer stone supported the loggia at Berry Pomeroy castle which was added around 1600

Eventually explosives were introduced to speed the quarrying and proved to be an added hazard to an already dangerous livelihood. In 1758, the owner of Beer stone quarry tried to ‘blast’ chalk out of the frozen ground with the use of dynamite above the quarry to make lime.

An eight-year-old boy was chosen and sent at once underground to warn the laborers of the explosion and to evacuate the caves and tunnels. But with growing impatience, the owner ordered the explosion before the young boys warning could be heard and the explosion caused some of the quarry roof to collapse falling and trapping those underground, ultimately killing 47 men including the boy. Their corpses still lay hidden under and beyond the rubble of the collapsed ceiling while forever entombed in tunnels. When the Lord of the Manor was informed of the disaster, his only concern and question in response to the news: “Have we lost any horses or carts?”

Today tools that were left behind in the caves have become sedimented there. Within the quarry walls, relations, attitudes and grievances of masons and quarrymen alike are found along with their names, etched into the stone walls for eternity.

Steve Rodgers the manager, is himself from a long line of Beer quarrymen and would often visit the caves as a child. Among the names scrawled onto the walls he came across that of his grandfather - E. Rodgers, his signature recognisable alongside the names of other quarrymen.

Rodgers is carved into the rock among the names scratched and marked as a memorial to those who worked and died in within this expansive subterranean complex.

The inscription below consists of a name: Anthony Northcott, a date: 1758, and a few other cryptic symbols. Under the name is what looks like the initials AN – where the “A” is actually a stylized representation of the Masonic “square and compasses” symbol. This stone and others like it bearing his name tell us that he was an educated man by the way he wrote his name.

Quarrying phrases continue to exist – decontextualized – in everyday speech: ‘To broach’ – to prick, indent or furrow the surface of stone with a narrow-pointed stone chisel. ‘Stone deaf’ – occupational deafness caused by the thunderous echo of constant blows of iron against stone. ‘Worth a candle’ – each quarryman had to buy five animal tallow candles per day and had to decide whether an area of rock was worth the time, effort and cost of the meagre lighting to be brought to its working.

Beer Quarry Caves is the main source in England for beer stone and surveys were also made of the caves, and typically at least one of these was deliberately falsified to show the quarry to be much smaller than it actually was at the time for the Inland Revenue taxed quarries according to their size. Owners soon found it cheaper to financially “persuade” the surveyor to amend measurements than pay their proper dues in taxes.

During exploration of the caves a team of volunteers cleared a space above a spoil heap and squeezed over the top and down the other side where the air in the void chamber had been still for 200-400 years and in the white stone dust filled atmosphere made the eerie discovery of human footprints and horses’ hooves and wagon tracks that looked as fresh as the day they’d been made. Along with the surprise discovery of the remains of a quarryman’s packed lunch which scientists identified as rabbit and cider.

The cave complex is so vast that one visitor, despite being told not to wonder off allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and wondered off, leaving his tour mates and guide none the wiser. The light from his torch expired and he found himself in total darkness, cold and lost his only companion the sound of dripping water. Shouting proved useless as the sound echoed through the tunnels and chambers. At closing, 5pm it noticed that a plastic counter was missing, a sign that someone had not left the caves. He was finally found 16 hours later; 37 men had been sent into the darkness and finally found him in a dreadful state of terror and exhaustion.

In parts of the cave large slopes from floor to ceiling are piled with loose rocks and stones these were created from the waste from excavating the modern quarry.

Charlie Cleaver Gush

As you tour the caves one cannot help but noticed the name C. C, Gush 1909 in large letters on one of the walls. A mark certainly placed not to be missed or ignored.

Charlie Gush was born in Beer in 1891. His parents were James Wills Gush, a butcher in the village, and Elizabeth Frances Gush. The family lived at Marine Cottage, Fore Street. Charlie was educated at Colyton Grammar School and at some point, worked in Beer Quarry where he left wrote his name on several sections of stone in the Beer quarry.

The 1911 Census revealed, he was working as a teacher at a private school in Upton upon Severn, Worcestershire. Later, with the outbreak of WW1 he joined the Army in 1914, becoming Private 36424 in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). He was posted to Egypt, arriving there on 4 June 1915. He fell ill in Alexandria in early 1916 and was sent back to England in February that year to recoup. With the arrival of and Christmas later that year saw him posted overseas to East Africa.

Charlie survived the war, but sadly died of complications following influenza on 11 December 1918, aged 27, and is buried in the Upanga Road Cemetery, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This followed closely the death in Italy of his younger brother Archie on 17 November, also of influenza, both within a month of the Armistice.

On 24 December 1918, the Pulman’s Weekly News commented on Charlie’s death:

“...so closely on the demise of their other son, Corporal A. W. Gush, a Military Medallist, who succumbed to influenza in Italy at the end of November. The poignancy of the family’s grief is accentuated by the fact that their sons have died after the conclusion of hostilities, when there was the prospect of their anticipated early return to England, and these sudden blows have been overwhelmingly great."

The Pulman’s Weekly News on 7 January 1919 recorded a visit to Charlie’s mother by his former commanding officer:

“Mrs Gush has lately received a visit from an officer who was with her son in German East Africa. Private Gush was the only ‘medical’ in charge of the 3rd Nigerian Battalion and showed exceptional ability. The colonel of the West African Medical Corps wanted him transferred to his regiment, but his officer placed too high a value on his services to allow this to be done.”

Smuggling

The success of the fishing industry meant Beer was a source of highly skilled seamen, which like many fishing villages along the coastline were drawn towards privateering and smuggling in the late 1700s to early 1800s and at times being “pressed” into taking the “King’s shilling”: is a historical slang term referring to the earnest payment of one shilling given to recruits to the Armed forces of the United Kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries, although the practice dates back to the end of the English Civil War.

To the smugglers of Beer, the meandering dark tunnels proved to be a valued hiding place for their contraband. Something the notorious local smuggler Jack Rattenbury nicknamed Rob Roy of the West (1778, Beer, Devon - 1844) took advantage of. Jack Rattenbury a native of Beer was born 1778. His mother, Anne Newton, came from Beer, and his father, John Rattenbury, came from Honiton and was shipped aboard a man o’ war before his birth and never seen again. Leaving Anne alone to raise her son, who sold fish to support herself and her child.

From the age of 9, John was an apprentice fisherman and recognised as an outstanding rogue of high intelligence and industry. His life became the embodiment of the word swashbuckling. On several occasions he found himself pressed into service in his Majesty’s navy but escaped. He first became involved in smuggling at the age of sixteen when he returned to Beer and he found his uncle entering men for privateering, and this fired John Rattenbury's ambition and he volunteered for his first venture as a privateer, he ended up in jail in France, but managed to escape to America. Amongst his numerous voyages he sailed to Norway, Spain, France, and the Channel Islands and included many smuggling journeys to Cherburg (Cherbourg) the most of which were highly successful, while others proved less fruitful and at great cost causing him to lose his boat or cargo and occasionally his liberty. His ingenuity enabled him to either get the charges overturned for lack of evidence or to escape.

In 1837 he wrote his life story having spent thirty years at sea in numerous guises and aptly named the book Memoirs of a Smuggler. Jack Rattenbury died aged sixty-five and was laid to rest on 28 April 1844 in Seaton churchyard, at an unmarked spot close to the north transept.

The extensive ancient cave system was used to bring in contraband and store brandy from France, Port from Spain, and Portugal from ships offshore to be concealed in the dark depths of the subterranean cave system where illegally gotten goods sought out by customs men, may still be there, hidden away for decades in obscurity. When the customs men discovered these concealed items, fights followed and in one instance two customs officers were killed. It is appropriate that the story of Beer Quarry Caves is told by a descendant of one of those two men, John Scott, himself a resident of Beer and renowned for saving the caves from being blown up and destroyed and saved for future generations as a valuable historic record of those who quarried the stone used for grand landmarks and other notable structures.

Legend also has it that the tunnels went from Beer Head all the way to Bovey House where tales provided a ‘convenient’ ghost to keep prying eyes away.

Resident bats

Greater Horseshoe Bats hanging from a wire inside Beer Quarry Caves

The quarry is part of the Jurassic Coast, and now provides a winter home to many species of hibernating bats. UK bats are nocturnal and feed on midges, moths, and other flying insects found in the dark by using echolocation.

The Greater Horseshoe bat is one of England’s largest bats, formerly a cave dweller is the size of a small pear. It has a characteristically fleshy nose shaped like a horseshoe, hence its name and has reddish-brown fur on its back and cream underneath. In early summer the greater horseshoe bats emerge at dusk and dawn, preferring to roost through the middle of the night. Greater horseshoe bats hibernate over the winter in caves, disused mines, tunnels, and cellars.

Lesser Horseshoe bat: Being the size of a plum, is one of England’s smallest bats and as its name implies has a characteristically fleshy horseshoe shaped nose. Its fur is grey, brown on its back and white underneath. Once a cave-dweller, Lesser Horseshoe bat now tends to roost in old stables and barns and is rare in the UK due to its declining in number. They feed on prey amongst vegetation in lowland valleys but have been known to take large prey back to a roost and rarely fly more than five metres above the ground. Lesser horseshoe bats hibernate over the winter in caves, disused mines, tunnels, and cellars.

Daubenton’s bat: a small to medium-sized bat, distinguished by its fluffy brownish fur, a pale silver-grey belly, and a pinkish face is also referred to as the 'water bat'. The Daubenton's bat forages for small flies, midges, caddisflies, and mayflies, found just above water and can even use its feet and tail to scoop up insects from the water's surface as it forages. They roost near water, under bridges, in tunnels, and in holes in trees and hibernate underground over winter, in caves, tunnels and mines. The Daubenton's bat is hey can live for up to 22 years in the wild, but an average lifespan of 4 to 5 years is more common.

Natterer's bat: are a medium-sized bat with fairly long ears, bare, pink faces and light brownish grey fur on its back fur is and paler on its belly. There is a row of stiff hairs on the edge of its tail membrane. They tend to feed on midges, moths, and other flying insects but they also forage on beetles and spiders that they take directly from foliage. Their flight is relatively slow, and they can be found hunting over water and among trees after sunset. They roost in old buildings like churches and castles, but rarely in houses and hibernate over the winter in caves, disused mines and rock crevices and hibernate in small rock crevices, squeezing themselves into odd positions, including lying on their backs or sides, or even on their heads! They tend to hibernate alone or in small groups.

Whiskered bat: This is a small bat, with shaggy, golden-tipped, dark grey or brown fur, and a grey belly who often forage along a familiar route like a hedgerow or woodland edge. They roost in a variety of houses and may use bat boxes. In the winter they like to hibernate in caves and tunnels. Its flight is fast and fluttering and is very similar in appearance to the Brandt's bat only slightly smaller.

Bechstein’s bat: has a pink face, long ears that are clearly separated at the forehead, reddish-brown fur on its back, and a pale grey belly and found almost exclusively in woodland and hibernate over the winter within the caves. caused the old and new quarries to be declared a and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Bechstein's bat is one of our rarest bats and found in parts of southern Wales and southern England