Monkton Farleigh
| Monkton Farleigh | |
|---|---|
 St. Peter's church |
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 Monkton Farleigh
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| Monkton Farleigh shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 460 (2011 census) |
| OS grid reference | ST805655 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bradford on Avon |
| Postcode district | BA15 |
| Dialling code | 01225 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Parish Council |
Monkton Farleigh is a village and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, 3 miles (6 km) from Bradford-on-Avon, and 5 miles (8.0 km) from the city of Bath. The parish includes the hamlets of Farleigh Wick and Pinckney Green.
It is known for its underground mines of Bath Stone, which were converted into one of the largest Ministry of Defence underground ammunition stores in the country.
The civil parish has 34 listed buildings, including:
Woodland at Inwood is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.
In the 1930s, it was recognised that there was a need to provide secure storage for munitions across the United Kingdom. The proposal was to create three Central Ammunition Depots (CADs): one in the north (Longtown, Cumbria); one in the Midlands (Nesscliffe, Shropshire); and one in the south, namely CAD Monkton Farleigh.
The easily hewn Bath stone, a form of limestone, had created a number of large, horizontal, and relatively dry quarries around Corsham. Monkton Farleigh quarry was renovated from the late 1930s by the Royal Engineers as one of the three major stockpiles.
In November 1937 the Great Western Railway were contracted to build a 1,000 feet (300 m) long raised twin-loading platform at Shockerwick, with two sidings from the adjacent Bristol-London mainline branching off just outside the eastern entrance to the Box Tunnel at 51°24′19.31″N 2°17′22.94″W / 51.4053639°N 2.2897056°W. 30 feet (9.1 m) below and at right angles to this point, the War Office had built a narrow gauge wagon sorting yard. This was attached by a 1.25 miles (2.01 km) tunnel built by The Cementation Company, descending at a rate of 1:8.5 to the Central Ammunition Depot, housed in the former mine workings. The whole logistics operation was designed to cope with a maximum of 1,000 tonnes (1,100 tons) of ammunition a day.
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