Swanworth Quarry in Worth Matravers, owned by Suttle Stone Quarries, is celebrating its 100^th anniversary. The quarry currently supplies approximately 50% of Dorset’s required crushed stone to the area, which is used as a sub-base for construction schemes, rock armour on sea defence works, gabions and decorative chippings. Suttle Stone Quarries is a division of the Suttles group of companies, employing some 120 staff locally, with 55 of those employed at Suttle Stone Quarries. 

Originally, Swanworth Quarry was a two-man underground quarry called ‘Sheepsleights’, operating around the early 1920s. According to a book entitled Swanworth by David Pushman, it was ‘quarried by Billy Brown, and, when the mood took him, Buff Bower!’ The quarry later became ‘Worth Quarries Limited’ in 1923, with its head office in Bournemouth, producing road stone: broken blocks for foundation, crushed and graded chippings, and tarmacadam. One large contract in 1924 was to supply material for the foundation of the lower valley road between Corfe Castle and Coombe Junction, replacing the cart track that was there previously. From 1933, Swanworth Quarries Limited took over the site, at its peak producing 600 tons per day. The quarry changed hands again in 1980 to Tarmac Roadstone Limited, increasing to a peak of 450,000 tonnes per year in 1985. Today, the quarry is run by Suttle Stone Quarries (part of the local Suttles group of companies), who took it over in 2011, supplying around 50% of Dorset’s crushed stone. 

Although the quarry has changed hands over the years, four generations of the Samways family have been a permanent working fixture at the quarry since 1921. Thomas Samways was the first to work at the site in the early 1920s as a digger; Thomas’s son Pete Samways worked at the quarry for over 40 years as a shovel driver, along with his brothers. Carly (3^rd generation) and her daughter Lauren (4^th generation) currently work in the quarry’s weighbridge office, selling crushed stone from the quarry to both trade and residential customers for a range of end uses from housing and civil engineering to private garden and driveway projects.

Carly said “My family has worked at the quarry for 100 years - the quarry is in our family’s blood! I love working here. It has seen a few changes over the years, although when Suttles took it over in 2011, they woke it up again. It is a real privilege to work here.”

The Suttle family has worked in the natural stone and quarrying business on the Isle of Purbeck since the 1920s, before purchasing the Swanworth Quarry in 2011. Suttles is a family-run ethical business with sustainability at the core of its values. Suttles is working towards becoming carbon neutral and has already made many investments in the business that reduce its CO2 emissions by around 60 tonnes per year. This includes investing in a growing fleet of 19 electric and hybrid vehicles and plant; upgrading the quarry’s crusher from diesel to an electric-powered engine; and installing a solar panel system that powers the quarry’s workshop and crusher. 

Suttles has provided crushed stone to many high-profile projects in the area, including Compass Point Housing (Swanage), Pierhead Development (Swanage), Priests’ Way Regeneration (Langton Matravers), Durlston Country Park Learning Centre and Footpath renewal (Swanage), and the Dorset Innovation Park (Winfrith).

Suttles’ Director, John Suttle added “As well as supplying around 50% of Dorset’s crushed stone, we are also keen to support community and charity initiatives, too. For example, we donated materials for the extension at Corfe Village Hall, as well as stone sub-base for Dorset Wildlife Trust’s ‘Greengage’ project, too. Suttles also sponsors and helps to organise the annual ‘Big Night Out’, a local night of clubbing for people with learning disabilities, attended by over 400 people from around Dorset.” 

 John goes on to say “The quarry plays an important role locally; it boosts the local economy and employment levels; it significantly minimises the carbon footprint of Dorset’s crushed stone market (compared to bringing in stone from other areas) and keeps aggregate costs lower for local businesses and residents.  We are very proud of the quarry’s 100 year history and we are currently in planning for the next phase of operations.”

 Suttle Stone Quarries is a division of the Suttles group.  It has been part of the Isle of Purbeck stone industry since the 1920’s as stone merchants and quarry owners.  Suttle Stone Quarries currently offers a variety of services from its Swanworth Quarry base: the sale and delivery of crushed limestone and aggregates for architectural, landscaping, and civil engineering applications; gabion and rock armour, used in coastal and waterways protections schemes; earthworks collection services; and an inert waste recycling facility. 

For further information about Suttles, go to www.suttles.co.uk