MMO332 - Medieval or post-medieval quarry and hollow ways south of Wallover Down Gate (Monument)

A stone quarry, spoil mound and two hollow ways are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs, most likely dating to the medieval or post-medieval periods. The quarry cuts through at least one of the hollow ways and has a later date.

Irregular quarried depression with low banks were noted on aerial photographs. [1-3] An area of quarrying and hollow ways or tracks to the south of Wallover Down Gate is centred at SS 68953930. The complex is depicted by [3]. In detail it consists of a stone quarry on the eastern side of the modern road at SS 6896 3926, with a spoil mound adjacent to it on the opposite side of the road. At least two narrow hollow ways, up to 2.5 metres wide and up to 1.2 metres deep, traverse the southern slopes of Goat Combe to give access to the ford at Wallover Down Gate. One of these has been cut through by the quarry, and must therefore predate it. [4] The quarry and hollow ways recorded above are clearly visible on aerial photographs. The quarry is also depicted and annotated on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1889, suggesting it was in use at this point, and possibly through the post-medieval period. The hollow ways are clearly of an earlier date, and may be medieval or post medieval. [5-7] The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map depicts and labels quarries on both sides of the road, whereas the 2nd Edition map only shows a quarry on the eastern side, at SS 6894 3924. [6,8] The site is recorded as "old quarry" on the 1963 Ordnance Survey 6 inch map. [9] The site was subject to field survey in 2017. SS 68979 39273. Two hollow ways cross the northwestern side of Wallover Down, running southwest to northeast to Goat Combe for some 300 metres. They are clearly cut by a large quarry and spoil mound and are the remains of routeways from the farms to the west giving access to the main areas of summer grazing in the former Royal Forest (MEM22088). They may date to the early medieval period. SS 68966 39269. A large quarry pit with a spoil mound to the west lies at the northwestern side of Wallover Down. The quarry was still in use at the beginning of the 20th Century, and reached its current extent in the final decade of the 19th Century. [8-10] The western hollow way, on the western side of the road, is outside of the National Park boundary. [11] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [12]