Box Freestone Quarry is the largest of the bathstone quarries its name is a combination of its location beneath Box hill and the type of stone it produced. a free stone is one which can be worked with a chisel to produce architectural moldings and tracery. The fine lime stone produced in the Bath area is prime example of a freestone. Quarrying on Box hill dates back to medieval times when the stone was extracted from pits in the hillside where the stone reached the surface. Later quarrying would take place around vertical shafts and it is this method of mining which lead to the construction of one of Box Freestone's most spectacular features, The Cathedral which was quarried via vertical shaft between 1830 and 1850.

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The Construction of Brunnel's Box tunnel between 1836 and 1841 revealed the full extent of the good quality bathstone beneath Box hill. Soon a number of quarries began to extract the stone form the hill. At one time there was total of ten entrances in to the hill side, originally these were probably separate quarries which over time became linked underground creating the extensive network of tunnels which exists today. Overtime parts of the quarry fell into disuse as the workable stone was exhausted the largest quarry entrance Eastgate was closed in 1906, while other entrances at Northgate, Westgate and Bridgegate was blocked around the same time.

The last section of the quarry to be worked was Cliftworks quarry in the northern district which closed in 1969, These working branched off a single long passage which open out of the hillside at Cliftworks Entrance over looking the A4. The passages in the northern district still retain the largest number of artifacts including number of complete cranes, Stone saws and an intact crab winch. Throughout the Cliftworks passages the floor is uneven with the pits left behind by the rotten sleepers which once supported the rail network in this part of the quarry, Clift works was the most modern part of the quarry with stone hauled out by a small locomotive, a water tank near cliftworks entrance was built to service the engine and the passage rooves are still stained by the locomotives exhaust.

Around the same time that work began on Box Freestone an number of other quarries opened on the opposite eastern side of Box hill. One of the these quarries bordering the eastern edge of Box freestone, known as Spring quarry was requisitioned by the air ministry for conversion into a underground shadow factory for the production of aircraft engines. 10 years after the end of second world war the northern part of Spring was chosen as the site of the emergency seat of government in the event of nuclear war. Box freestone was used as a lung for this complex supplying air filtered through the quarry workings via a newly constructed air way known as brewers drift. The drift can be accessed although the eastern end of this passage which leads into the MOD controlled Tunnel and Spring quarries is firmly sealed, a vertical air shaft has replaced the drift into Box Freestone.

Since the quarry closed the majority of its entrances have been blocked but three remain today. Cliftworks entrance still exists but is sealed off as an emergency entrance, further south is Backdoor which was originally an rectangular adit, it has been partially infilled leaving a small gated entrance. The southern region can be accessed by Jack's Workings which are named after a former quarryman. I have been fortunate enough to visit Box freestone on may occasions and have traveled the majority of the main passage ways. The quarry can be roughly divided into three sections. The northern district based around cliftworks passage still holds the most evidence of the working quarry. The central section contains the beautiful bell shaped chamber known as "Cathedral" as well as an area known as "robots" where bricks have been used to create an number of small characters. The western edge of the central district borders the MOD quarries, The Central district also contains the best examples of original quarryman's graffiti. Southern district has been abandoned so it is the most barren are of the quarry although it does still contain one intact crane.