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Byfield Quarry - Irving's Incline

Combe Down, Bath.

This slope shaft became known as Irvings Incline during the stabilisation infilling of the Byfield and Firs quarries. It was named after Professor Richard Irving, who lived at Tor House, at the top of the incline.

This shaft is shown on a plan (figure 12.20) in 'Finished Labour of a Thousand Hands': The Archaeology of the Combe Down Stone Mines, Bath, Somerset published in 2011. It is not shown on the 25 inch Ordnance Survey maps of 1873-1888 (South West England) or the 25 inch Ordnance Survey maps of 1892-1914.

Alternative Names: Byfield Mine, Firs Quarry, Firs Mine

Notes: The slope shaft was probably constructed in the early 19th century. It was almost 25m in length and had a stone-lined barrel-vaulted roof.

It was used both to access the underground quarry working of the Byfield Quarry as well as to transport cut stone to the surface.

The incline, then in the Tor House kitchen garden, was reopened during World wat II, when it served as an air-raid shelter for approximately 200 people. A report records the air raid shalter being heated by coal and electrically lit from a cable run from Tor House.