Pattens Rock Quarry is believed to take its name from a limemaster John Patten who operated out of Bower Yard near Benthall Edge. The quarry, probably dating from the late 18C, was the largest of those on Benthall Edge (amongst scores of others). It was once equipped with an inclined plane connected to a winding drum which conveyed loaded wagons of limestone down to limekilns at the bottom of the quarry or to a battery of 10 other kilns on the riverside at Bower Yard. Here it was calcined and used for agricultural purposes, lime mortar, or limewash. Some of the stone may have been used in the construction of cottages and stone walls, but in general was never considered good enough for building purposes. The quarry was abandoned some time in the late 19C century but had a brief reworking in the 1920s and 1930s when circumstance must have changed to make extraction once again economically worthwhile.
To find out more, you can read and walk to see this quarry in the Trust’s high-quality publication: Benthall Edge: Five Historic Guided Walks and The Lime Trial of Benthall Edge