MSO10156 - 19th Century quarry southeast of Larkbarrow (Monument)

The earthwork remains of a quarry, SS 8271 4203, survive next to the Larkbarrow track, 260 metres north of the Wellshead road. The quarry is 22.2 metres in length, 17 metres in width and 3 metres in depth, with an entrance clearly visible on its western side. There are spoil heaps along its southern and eastern edges which rise to a height of 1 metres. The quarry almost certainly dates from the 19th Century and may have been used to supply stone for the building of boundary walls or possibly for the construction of the trackbed of the Porlock to Simonsbath railway. [1] The feature was recorded at 1:2500 scale using differential GPS as part of an archaeological survey of the Larkbarrow area. The survey was undertaken by the Exeter office of English Heritage at the request of the Exmoor National Park Authority. A client report was produced as part of the survey work and is available from the NMRC, Swindon. [2] The quarry has been transcribed from aerial photographs as part of the Exmoor National Mapping Programme survey. The pit is clearly visible on aerial photographs from the 1940s onwards, although the spoil heaps describe by the above authority are less apparent from the air. [3-5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]