MMO2337 - 19th Century stone quarries north of Duredon Farm (Monument)

A pair of post-medieval quarries or extractive pits are visible on aerial photographs as earthworks. They likely date to the first half of the 19th Century and likely supplied building stone for the buildings and enclosures at Duredon Farm.

A pair of post-medieval quarries or extractive pits are visible on aerial photographs as earthworks immediately north of Duredon Farm, Exmoor. Centred at approximately SS 7563 4062 adjacent to the post-medieval field boundary north of Duredon Farm, the larger and more northerly quarry (SS 7564 4066) measures approximately 24 metres long and up to 15 metres wide. The ground surrounding the quarry is somewhat uneven, possibly representing spoil dumping. The smaller quarry, at SS 7563 4059, is more circular and measures approximately 15 metres in diameter. Within the central depression, two additional, smaller cuts are visible, suggesting this quarry was either reworked or that a seam was exploited here. Neither of the quarries are depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1889, suggesting they were abandoned some time prior to publication. Duredon Farm was one of the earliest built by the Knight family, and was completed and let in 1848. It seems likely that the quarries date to the period between the acquisition of the former Royal Forest in 1820 and the completion of Duredon in 1848, and supplied building stone for the farm buildings and enclosures. [1-4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]