MSO10175 - 19th Century quarry west of Larkbarrow Farm (Monument)

A large gravel quarry, at SS 8183 4281, lies in rough grassland 100 metres to the northeast of Larkbarrow Cottage, at about 395 metres above Ordnance Datum. This oval feature is 27.2 metres long and 26 metres wide with an entrance on its southwest side. A substantial spoil heap standing over 1 metre high lies to the southwest. The quarry most probably dates from the mid 19th Century and would have provided a convenient supply of gravel for the construction of the farm buildings and boundary walls. [1] The quarry 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 work and is available from the NMRC, Swindon. [2] The quarry is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards and has been transcribed as part of the Exmoor National Mapping Programme Survey. [4-6] The site is marked as a gravel pit on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map. [7] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [8]