The quarries were excavated by the Lundy Granite Company from 1863-68 and were linked by a tramway which ran along a terrace cut into the side of the island.
At the southern end of the terrace were workshops and an inclined plane down to a jetty where ships could load. The picture shows the remains of the winding gear at the top of the inclined plane
The terrace now supports one of the Lundy Field Society's bird traps. These are used to capture small birds, without harming them, to enable them to be ringed. The study of ringed birds is the principal method by which bird movements are understood.
In one of the quarries to the north is a memorial to John Pennington Harman, awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions at Kohima in India on 8 April 1944 during the Burma Campaign. The quarry, now known as VC Quarry was one of his favourite places when a boy on the island. The picture shows the ceremony on 23 June 1994 to commemorate the fiftieth aniversary.