MMO331 - Post-medieval stone quarrying and/or iron mining remains on Kentisbury Down (Monument)

Various quarries are depicted by [1] on Kentisbury Down. Concentrations occur around SS 6420 4325, SS 6375 4325 and SS 6425 4375. [1-4] The features recorded are stone quarries, which appear to predate the enclosure of Kentisbury Down in the mid 19th Century. [5-7] A large number of stone quarries are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of Kentisbury Down. They are depicted on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map of 1891 and annotated as "old quarries" suggesting they were out of use at the time of publication. In many places the quarries are overlain by extant field boundaries, most of which date to the enclosure of Kentisbury Down in the mid 19th Century. They most likely date to the post-medieval period, but their precise date is uncertain. [8-10] Claughton describes an unnamed mine with iron trial pits on north side of Kentisbury Down adjacent to the road, probably dating from the 1870s (also see MDE21588). These features (mapped at SS 6426 4376) may be part of the iron trial pits that Claughton described or, alternatively, quarrying remains as described above. [11] The quarries centred at SS 6421 4323, SS 6425 4377 and SS 6434 4371 are also depicted on the six inch 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map and on the six inch 1963 map. [12,13] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [14]