Wren’s Nest - Seven Sisters Mine Stabilisation and Interpretation Centre
Project
Wren’s Nest - Seven Sisters Mine Stabilisation and Interpretation Centre
Sector
Highway and Civils
Client
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Description
On 22nd September 1849, the Illustrated London News published the following report of a field trip by the British Association for the Advancement of Science :
Saturday the 15th instant was devoted to excursions Ӗ to Warwick by one party; and to the limestone caverns at Dudley Castle by another and by far the most numerous party.
The Dudley Cavern seekers went to their destination by canal boats, of which five were engaged to transport such of the members of the Association as liked that mode of proceeding, but many went by other conveyances; and as great numbers of tickets had been issued to the residents of Dudley and vicinity, the throng of visitors to the Caverns was immense; according to some computations, nearly 15,000 people availed themselves of the privilege during the day. The members of the Association were received near the Caverns by members of the local committee, by whom they were directed to the point of entrance, a romantic spot, enshrouded by trees, where hundreds of persons were waiting their turns of admission. Going down a few steps, the visitors passed under a great arch, and, following the track, were soon in the interior of the limestone caverns. These enormous caverns are not natural formations, but have been produced by the continued excavation of the limestone, of which immense quantities are used in the neighbourhood, and sent to various parts of the kingdom.
Over 150 years later Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council intend to recreate this visitor experience through the WrenԒs Nest Seven Sisters Mine Stabilisation and Interpretation Centre Project. Information provided by them and their consultants is summarised below.
Wrens Nest is a classic geological site of exceptional importance, being one of the most notable geological locations in the British Isles and visited and studied by geologists from all over the world. WrenҒs Nest was declared the UKs first National Nature Reserve for geology in 1956. The site provides a definitive section through the Much Wenlock Limestone formation.
The hill is a famous geological feature with over 650 types of fossil visible to the naked eye, some of which are unique to WrenҒs Nest, the most famous being the Trilobites. The most common of these Trilobites was nicknamed the Dudley Bug and was featured in the Dudley town Coat of Arms.
The limestone at Wrens Nest was exploited for centuries as a source of building stone and for making mortar and fertiliser for agriculture. WrenҒs Nest played an important part in the development of the Black Country. Abraham Darby was born on Wrens Nest in 1678. In 1665 Dud Dudley (son of Lord Dudley Җ the families of Darby and Dudley were connected by marriage) had developed a process to smelt iron with coke instead of charcoal. Abraham Darby developed Dudleys work and perfected the process in Coalbrookdale. By 1709 Coalbrookdale was the scene of the first significant production of large quantities of cheap iron using coke as the fuel, which Dud Dudley had invented and used in his iron smelting furnaces.
Around 1837, Sir Robert Murchison (a President of the Royal Geographical Society) spent some years studying fossiliferous rocks in the West Midlands. He visited Dudley on a number of occasions and, in 1839, published his scientific work ғThe Silurian System. About 65% of the fossils illustrated and described in the publication are from Dudley and many of the individual specimens used are housed in the collection at Dudley Museum.
During the height of the Industrial Revolution, up to 20,000 tons of limestone were removed annually to act as a flux in the many local blast furnaces. This activity ceased in 1924, leaving the area honeycombed with quarries and caverns, some going down 100 metres below WrenԒs Nest Hill to underground canal basins. The vast limestone mines underneath the Wrens Nest and Dudley Castle hills attracted much visitor attention during the 19th century. The current studies and application for funding for the Stabilisation and Interpretation Centre Project are planned to again introduce tourists to the area by providing a facility for education and access to the WrenҒs Nest site.
The limestone was initially worked by adit and later as so-called room and pillarӔ mines, whereby the roof is supported by limestone pillars left in place. The limestone on the west side of Wrens Nest dips at 35Ұ to 40 and the upper gallery is unusual in that it is open to the surface, with daylight entering between the remaining pillars. These pillars are named the Seven Sisters, of which just five remain.
A public viewing platform was constructed to allow views from above down through the Seven Sisters, into the upper Гdaylight gallery and deeper into the mine below.
Due to concerns over public safety the lower levels of the mine have been progressively backfilled. Public access to the viewing platform and the area above the entire western mine was prevented by the use of fencing in 1977.
Significant collapses occurred in 2001 with the requirement to backfill with grout in the second and third galleries. Due to further rock falls and ongoing concern over public safety, the upper ԓdaylight gallery was completely backfilled with ԓRowley Ragstone granular material in 2004.
DMBC and other stakeholders now intend to remove the backfill from the upper ԓdaylight gallery and re-establish public access. The photograph shows the Daylight Gallery within the Seven Sisters limestone mine prior to its backfilling in 2004.
Corderoy have been retained as independent cost consultants and are very pleased to be associated with this interesting, unique local project. The Corderoy Birmingham office team of Mike Kelly, Alan Tombs and Ted Shirley have provided cost estimate validation and risk assessment modelling for the project. The WrenԒs Nest National Nature Reserve Seven Sisters Stabilisation and Interpretation facility, is the subject of an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) amounting to approximately ֣16 Million.
We are also now engaged by Dudley MBC to assist them and other West Midland Local Authorities and the Black Country Consortium in a subsequent, complementary application for funding from the Peoples MillionsӔ Big Lottery Fund. This is for the re-opening of the partially collapsed 700m canal tunnel link to the Castle Mill canal basin, located near the Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Canal Trust, underground visitor centre and station in the canal basin at the bottom of the Step Shaft and a funicular railway facility to provide a link for visitors between the underground canal basin and the new Interpretation Centre located on the surface near the Seven Sisters Daylight Galleries of the limestone mine.
Location
UK
Value
16M
Service Provided
Independent estimated cost validation on the stabilization, civil engineering and architectural works.
Financial risk assessment modeling and development of risk management procedures
Advice and assistance with contract procurement, tender assessment and contractor selection