Once heavily a heavily used quarry used for buildings in London and across the world, Tout Quarries is an unusual site with scare wildlife and mysterious sculptures. Ideal for sightseers and those wanting to experience something new.

Stone sculptures

The most unique aspect about this reserve are the hidden sculptures you will find during your visit each crafted by artists that rotate in and out each year, making for an ever-changing landscape.

There is a lot of variances in the shapes and sized they come in. Some are etched into rock faces, others are carved out of boulders. You may even find other materials, such as paint, used on the artworks.

Rocky habitat

The bare surfaces of mined stone present at the quarry are ideal habitats for several uncommon plants. As you go through the reserve, you’ll see a common flora like the kidney vetch which is yellow and woolly in appearance.

Some of the most mesmerising wildflowers here are the viper’s-bugloss with its blue flower spikes that grow upon a green, hairy and spotted stem said to resemble a viper. And the portland spurge which creates an incredibly unique flower and fruit, and leaves that grow to form an ace-of-spades-like shape.

Portland View

The return of wildflowers to the area brings about an influx of flying critters, specifically butterflies.

At the reserve you will find a diverse group of flutterers like the common blue, the silver studied blue and the grayling, which are experts of disguise with a colouring that resembles bare earth and stone.

If you are lucky during your search, you might even capture a shot of the red admiral and large tortoiseshell butterfly or any of the other flying beauties that are rare sights at the quarry.